Atrial Fibrillation Around the Time of Noncardiac Surgery and Thromboembolic Risk

Among patients who develop perioperative atrial fibrillation (AF), future thromboembolic risk is poorly defined. Investigators used a Danish nationwide registry to match patients with new-onset perioperative AF (POAF) with patients in whom new-onset (but not perioperative) nonvalvular AF (NVAF) was diagnosed.

Of approximately 1.5 million patients who underwent noncardiac surgery from 1996 through 2015, 6048 (0.4%), developed POAF during hospitalization, most commonly after thoracic/pulmonary, abdominal, and vascular surgeries. Of these, 3830 POAF patients were matched (by age, sex, AF index date, and clinical factors) with more than 15,000 NVAF patients. Oral anticoagulation was used by 24% and 43% of POAF and NVAF patients, respectively. Cr…