An Australian-first study, led by a Professor of Vascular Surgery at The University of Western Australia, has found more than half of patients discharged from hospital after major abdominal surgery had anaemia, putting them at greater risk of being re-admitted.

The research, published today in the Medical Journal of Australia, was based on data from 2,730 patients who had been admitted to 56 hospitals across Australia and New Zealand.

The project was overseen by Professor Toby Richards, the Lawrence-Brown Professor of Vascular Surgery at UWA with medical students and medical interns playing a crucial role in collecting the large quantity of data.

Image: Professor Toby Richards.

“About one-third of patients who present for major surgery have anaemia, or a deficiency of red cells or haemoglobin in their blood, and as many as three-quarters have it when discharged from hospital,” Professor Richards said.

“Anaemia around the time of surgery is associated with higher post-operative complication rates, longer hospital stays, poorer quality of life and delayed recovery.”

Professor Richards and his colleagues at the POSTVenTT Study Collaborative analysed data from male and female patients over a four-week period in July 2021.

He said the unique aspect from the data was identifying that most patients had anaemia after surgery on hospital discharge and these patients were more likely to need emergency re-admission to hospital.

The next step would be to investigate the best way of preventing and treating anaemia.

“Hospital re-admission within 30 days was more frequent among people who had anaemia at discharge so improving the identification and management of peri-operative anaemia could improve patient outcomes after surgery,” he said.

Medical intern James Leigh welcomed the chance to be involved in quality research.

“This study provided a fantastic opportunity for medical students to gain practical research experience, while contributing to important clinical research,” Dr Leigh said.