Transesophageal Echocardiography, Acute Kidney Injury, and Length of Hospitalization Among Adults Undergoing Coronary Artery Bypass Graft Surgery

To test the association between transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) and incidence of acute kidney injury and length of hospitalization among United States adults undergoing isolated coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery.This was an observational, retrospective cohort analysis.This study used a multicenter claims dataset from a commercially insured population undergoing CABG surgery in the United States between 2004 and 2016.Adults aged 18 years or older with continuous insurance enrollment and an absence of renal-related diagnoses before the index CABG surgery.Receipt of TEE within 1 calendar day of the index CABG surgery date.Of 51,487 CABG surgeries, 5,361 (10.4%; [95% confidence interval [CI]: 10.1-10.7%]) developed acute kidney injury and the mean length of hospitalization was 8.8 days (95% CI: 8.7-8.8). The TEE group demonstrated a greater absolute risk difference (RD) for acute kidney injury by multiple linear regression, overall, (RD=+1.0; [95% CI: 0.4-1.5%]; p0.001) and among a low-risk subgroup (RD=+1.0; [95% CI: 0.4-1.6; p = 0.002), but not by instrumental variable analysis (RD=+0.9 [95% CI: -1.1 to 2.9%]; p = 0.362). The TEE group demonstrated a longer length of hospitalization by multiple linear regression, overall (+2.0%; [95% CI: 1.1-2.9%]; p0.001), among a low-risk subgroup (+2.2%; [95% CI: 1.2-3.2%]; p0.001), and by instrumental variable analysis (+10.3%; [95% CI: 7.0-13.7%]; p0.001).TEE monitoring in CABG surgery was not associated with a lower incidence of acute kidney injury or decreased length of hospitalization. These findings highlight the importance of additional work to study the clinical effectiveness of TEE in CABG surgery.