Length of Stay in Ambulatory Surgical Oncology Patients at High Risk for Sleep Apnea as Predicted by STOP-BANG Questionnaire

Background. The STOP-BANG questionnaire has been used to identify surgical patients at risk for undiagnosed obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) by classifying patients as low risk (LR) if STOP-BANG score < 3 or high risk (HR) if STOP-BANG score ≥ 3. Few studies have examined whether postoperative complications are increased in HR patients and none have been described in oncologic patients. Objective. This retrospective study examined if HR patients experience increased complications evidenced by an increased length of stay (LOS) in the postanesthesia care unit (PACU). Methods. We retrospectively measured LOS and the frequency of oxygen desaturation (<93%) in cancer patients who were given the STOP-BANG questionnaire prior to cystoscopy for urologic disease in an ambulatory surgery center. Results. The majority of patients in our study were men (77.7%), over the age of 50 (90.1%), and had BMI < 30 kg/m² (88.4%). STOP-BANG results were obtained on 404 patients. Cumulative incidence of the time to discharge between HR and the LR groups was plotted. By 8 hours, LR patients showed a higher cumulative probability of being discharged early (80% versus 74%, P = 0.008). Conclusions. Urologic oncology patients at HR for OSA based on the STOP-BANG questionnaire were less likely to be discharged early from the PACU compared to LR patients.