Preoperative Intubation and Lack of Enteral Nutrition are Associated with Prolonged Stay After Arterial Switch Operation

Mortality for the arterial switch operation (ASO) has diminished significantly over the past few decades. Some patients do, however, continue to have protracted and complicated courses after surgery. We attempted to determine which preoperative factors were best associated with prolonged hospital stay after ASO. We retrospectively reviewed all patients that underwent an ASO over a 10-year period. Outcomes of patients with postoperative stays (POS) >14 days (long stay group-LS) were compared with those patients with POS