Introduction
Gastrointestinal (GI) complications are an uncommon, but potentially highly morbid events following cardiac surgery procedures1. The reported incidence of these events are between 0.5%-4.5% of cardiac cases, but the in-hospital mortality associated with GI complications is around 30%-40%, with some series reporting higher rates of mortality2–8. Previous series have identified several risk factors such as increasing age and comorbidity, as well as and prolonged operation times as risk factors for development of GI complications3,4,7. While the postoperative increase in mortality has been well described, the long-term ramifications of the GI complications after cardiac surgery are less clear as are the impacts of the individual type of GI complication on outcomes. In this study, we aim to identify the incidence, risk-factors, and long-term outcomes of GI complications following adult cardiac surgery procedures at our institution.