NCT06042413

Prediction and Prevention of Postoperative Mortality and Morbidity

Real-world and Innovative Multimodal Prediction and Prevention of Postoperative Mortality and Multi-morbidities

• Status: Not Yet Recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 1,200 (estimated)
• Sponsor: University of Pittsburgh · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 65 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

This study will contribute to creating a prospective and automated preoperative risk assessment algorithm for predicting 30-day mortality, major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events (MACCE), and postoperative neurocognitive outcomes following elective cardiac and vascular surgery in older adults. It will evaluate associations between perioperative factors and longer-term neurocognitive outcomes, including postoperative neurocognitive disorder and dementia. In addition, this study will assess scalable, multimodal preoperative and intraoperative interventions to improve perioperative outcomes. This study will explore two main hypotheses: 1. Preoperative personalized prehabilitation with proactive cognitive and behavioral interventions will improve postoperative cognitive outcomes, morbidity, and mortality in high-risk elderly surgical patients. 2. Proactive bundled intraoperative interventions are superior to reactive standard of care in reducing postoperative cognitive outcomes, MACCE, and mortality. Expected Outcome: Improved EHR algorithm will have higher predictive accuracy for MACCE and mortality while predicting postoperative cognitive outcomes.

Detailed description

This study will cover the following two specific aims: Aim 1. A pragmatic, non-randomized study to assess the effectiveness of preoperative personalized prehabilitation with proactive cognitive and behavioral interventions versus standard of care on reducing postoperative cognitive outcomes (including postoperative delirium within 30 days, postoperative cognitive decline, and dementia), MACCE, and mortality in high-risk surgical elderly patients (≥65 years). Our Electronic Health Record (EHR)-based automated machine-learning risk prediction algorithm for postoperative mortality and MACCE has been developed using \>1.25 million surgical patients' data and implemented with superior performance to comparators. This EHR algorithm will identify approximately 1,000 patients at high risk for 30-day mortality and MACCE who proceed to surgery for Aim 1. Participants will receive either standard of care (n=500) or CPC-guided personalized preoperative prehabilitation with proactive cognitive or behavioral interventions (physical exercise, cognitive training, enhanced social support, and depression support) (n=500), based on real-world clinical referral practices rather than randomization. Cognitive assessments will be performed at baseline, discharge, and at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months. Aim 2 Hypothesis: Proactive bundled intraoperative interventions are superior to standard intraoperative care in reducing postoperative cognitive outcomes, MACCE, and mortality. Expected Outcome: The refined EHR-based risk prediction algorithm will demonstrate improved accuracy for predicting MACCE, mortality, and postoperative cognitive outcomes.

Conditions

• Dementia
• Postoperative Delirium (POD)
• Postoperative Neurocognitive Disorder
• Major Adverse Cardiac and Cerebrovascular Events
• Perioperative Complications
• Postoperative Cognitive Decline

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
OTHER	Personalized CPC Prehabilitation	Patients referred for elective surgery will be scheduled for a preoperative evaluation (3 to 6 weeks prior to surgery) and will receive standardized and personalized assessment and prehabilitation according to UPMC disease specific algorithms
BEHAVIORAL	Cognitive Training	Participants will be provided with access to the Lumosity (Lumos Labs) software for installation on a home device. They will be trained to navigate the touchscreen tablet and guided through an introductory series of brain exercise games focused on 5 main categories: memory, speed, attention, flexibility, and problem-solving. Patients will be asked to complete a cognitive exercise dosage of a minimum of 20 minutes a day for ≥5 days prior to their date of surgery. Research coordinators and volunteers from UPMC's Hospital Elder Life Program (HELP) will reach out to participants daily for a quick social check-in and to remind them to perform their training. Compliance data will be retrieved from the Lumosity app.
BEHAVIORAL	Meditation	A single guided meditation session with instructions will be provided using a smart device. The meditation session will last for at least 10 minutes daily starting at least 1-week prior to surgery. If the subject does not own a smart device, one will be provided or meditation will be completed in-person or over the phone.
BEHAVIORAL	Daily Exercise	Participants in the intervention group will meet with an occupational or physical therapist approximately 1-6 weeks before surgery who will discuss the potential benefits of exercise and give directions for an easy strength training exercise. Participants will then be provided with a video link for a guided exercise and encouraged to walk or perform a seated strength exercise for ≥ 5 minutes each day for at least 1 week before surgery and after surgery. Patient reported frequency, fitness app compliance and exercise duration with REDCap email or mobile link or over telephone will be collected before and after surgery. Patients will be cleared by an occupational or physical therapist to perform the upper-extremity exercises and will confirm the exercises are not contraindicated after surgery. An occupational or physical therapist will see subject again post-surgery to mitigate risk of injury.
BEHAVIORAL	Enhanced Social Support	Research coordinators and volunteers from the Hospital Elder Life Program (HELP) will contact participants prior to surgery to discuss concerns, provide regular social support, and remind participants to complete assigned cognitive exercises. The role of family members and caregivers in supporting the participant will also be discussed, and their involvement will be encouraged when appropriate. Participants in the CPC preoperative intervention group may receive preoperative interventions to address depressive symptoms as part of CPC-guided prehabilitation, when clinically indicated.
OTHER	Proactive Bundle Interventions	Participants randomized to the proactive bundled intervention group (Group D) will receive routine intraoperative SSEP and EEG monitoring and proactive optimization of intraoperative physiology, including maintaining mean arterial pressure ≥65 mmHg, adequate oxygenation, opioid sparing analgesia, and avoidance of deep anesthesia and benzodiazepines. If persistent focal changes in SSEP and EEG (i.e., changes in one hemisphere) occur, reactive measures will be implemented to increase cerebral perfusion, including ensuring hematocrit \>30, maintaining anesthetic BIS \>50-60, and initiating stroke management and thrombectomy if clinically indicated
PROCEDURE	Pre-operative Standard of Care	Participants will receive routine preoperative clinical care per institutional standard practice.
PROCEDURE	Intra-operative Standard of Care	This includes routine intraoperative SSEP and EEG monitoring. Physician oversight and interpretation of real-time neuromonitoring data will be performed using a combined on-site and remote model at UPMC. In the event that changes in EEG or SSEP are considered significant by the oversight neurophysiologists, the surgical team will be immediately informed so that immediate appropriate action can be taken to reverse the change.

Timeline

• Start date: 2026-05-01
• Primary completion: 2027-05-01
• Completion: 2027-06-01
• First posted: 2023-09-18
• Last updated: 2026-04-14

Locations

5 sites across 1 country: United States