The number of adults requiring surgeries for CHD is increasing. We sought to evaluate the utility of the vasoactive-ventilation-renal (VVR) score as a predictor of prolonged length of stay in adults following CHD surgery.

This is a retrospective review of 158 adult patients who underwent CHD surgery involving cardiopulmonary bypass. VVR score was calculated upon arrival to ICU and every 6 hours for the first 48 hours post-operatively. Our primary outcome was prolonged length of stay defined as hospital length of stay greater than 75th percentile for the cohort (≥8 days).

The study cohort had a median age of 25.6 years (18–60 years), and 83 (52.5%) were male. The groups with and without prolonged length of stay were comparable in age, gender, race, and surgical severity score. VVR score was significantly higher at all time points in the group with prolonged length of stay. The first post-operative day peak VVR score ≥13 had a sensitivity of 81% and specificity of 75% for predicting prolonged length of stay (p = 0.0001). On regression analysis, peak VVR score during the first day was independently associated with prolonged length of stay.

Peak VVR score during the first post-operative day was a strong predictor of prolonged length of stay in adults following CHD surgery.