Preoperative steroid use and the incidence of perioperative complications in patients undergoing craniotomy for definitive resection of a malignant brain tumor

We studied the impact of preoperative steroids on 30 day morbidity and mortality of craniotomy for definitive resection of malignant brain tumors. Glucocorticoids are used to treat peritumoral edema in patients with malignant brain tumors, however, prolonged (⩾10 days) use of preoperative steroids as a risk factor for perioperative complications following resection of brain tumors has not been studied comprehensively. Therefore, we identified 4407 patients who underwent craniotomy to resect a malignant brain tumor between 2007 and 2012, who were reported in the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program, a prospectively collected clinical database. Metastatic brain tumors constituted 37.5% (n = 1611) and primary malignant gliomas 62.5% (n = 2796) of the study population. We used logistic regression to assess the association between preoperative steroid use and perioperative complications before and after 1:1 propensity score matching. Patients who received steroids constituted 22.8% of the population (n = 1009). In the unmatched cohort, steroid use was associated with decreased length of hospitalization (odds ratio [OR] 0.7; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.6–0.8), however, the risk for readmission (OR 1.5; 95% CI 1.2–1.8) was increased. In the propensity score matched cohort (n = 465), steroid use was not statistically associated with any adverse outcomes. Patients who received steroids were less likely to stay hospitalized for a protracted period of time, but were more likely to be readmitted after discharge following craniotomy. As an independent risk factor, preoperative steroid use was not associated with any observed perioperative complications. The findings of this study suggest that preoperative steroids do not independently compromise the short term outcome of craniotomy for resection of malignant brain tumors.