Research Article PostoperativeNew-OnsetAtrialFibrillationfollowingNoncardiac Operations: Prevalence, Complication, and Long-Term MACE Ofir Koren , 1,2 Rony Hakim, 3 Asaf Israeli, 2 Ehud Rozner, 3 and Yoav Turgeman 1,2 1 Heart Institute, Emek Medical Center, Afula, Israel 2 Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel 3 Anesthesia Department, Emek Medical Center, Afula, Israel Correspondence should be addressed to Ofir Koren; drkorenofir@gmail.com Received 25 June 2020; Revised 5 October 2020; Accepted 6 October 2020; Published 14 October 2020 Academic Editor: Andrea P. Rossi Copyright©2020OfirKorenetal.isisanopenaccessarticledistributedundertheCreativeCommonsAttributionLicense, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Background.Postoperativenew-onsetatrialfibrillation(POAF)isacommoncomplicationfollowingcardiothoracicsurgery,but littleisknownregardingitsoccurrenceandoutcomefollowingnoncardiothoracicsurgery.isstudywasintendedtoexaminethe incidence of POAF in noncardiothoracic surgeries performed under general anesthesia and its effects on the length of hos- pitalization stay, short-term and long-term morbidity, and mortality. Methodology. We conducted a retrospective observational descriptivestudy.estudypopulationconsistsofpatientshospitalizedinsurgicalwardsfromJanuary2014toDecember2017. Surgery was defined as noncardiac or thoracic procedure conducted under general anesthesia. Results. A total of 24,125 general anesthesiaoperationswereperformedat7surgicalwards.Abouttwo-fifthoftheoperations(40%)wereoperatedelectively,and the rest underwent emergency surgery. e mean age was 63.78 ± 11.50, and more than half (56.9%) of the participants were female. e prevalence of POAF was 2.69 per 1000 adult patients (95% CI: 2.11–3.43) and vary significantly among wards. e highest prevalence was observed after hip fixation and laparotomy surgeries (54.9 and 26.7 per 1000 patients, respectively). e medianlengthofhospitalizationwassignificantlyhigherinPOAFpatients(21.0vs.4.8days, p < 0.001).Patientswhodeveloped POAFhadsignificantlyhighermortalityrates,bothinhospital(200vs.7.56deathsper1000, p � 0.001)and1year(261.5vs.33.3 per1000, p � 0.001,respectively).erewasnosignificantassociationbetweenoutcomeandtreatmentmodalitiessuchasrateor rhythm control and anticoagulant use. Conclusion. New-onset AF following noncardiac surgery is rare, yet poses significant clinicalimplications,bothimmediateandlong-term.POAFisassociatedwithalongerlengthofhospitalizationandasignificantly higher mortality rate, both in short- and long-term. 1. Introduction Postoperative atrial fibrillation (POAF) is one of the most common complications in patients undergoing cardiac surgery. Its incidence is estimated to be about 30–60% of patients. e occurrence of atrial fibrillation after surgery results in longer hospitalization duration, higher morbidity and mortality, frequent recurrences, and long-term risk of stroke [1–3]. POAF has been extensively studied in the context of cardiac surgery (CS) [4–7], but little is known about its prevalence after noncardiac surgery (NCS). It is estimated that the prevalence is between 5 and 10% of patients and is dependent on many variables, such as age, cardiac dys- function, and cardiovascular risk factors [8]. POAF is thought to occur as a result of adrenergic stimulation, systemic inflammation, or activation of the autonomousheartnervesduringsurgeryanduptofourdays later, for various reasons. ese reasons include pain, low bloodpressure,infection,andbleeding.POAFappearstobe associated with myocardial injury or hypertension even before surgery, possibly from hemodynamically alterations or electrolytic disorders [9]. e therapeutic and preventive approach is unclear. A rate control strategy does not appear to differ from rhythm control therapy as far as mortality is concerned [10, 11]. Hindawi Cardiology Research and Practice Volume 2020, Article ID 8156786, 6 pages https://doi.org/10.1155/2020/8156786