Patient characteristics and outcomes across time periods—values shown are median (IQR) or number (per cent)
| Pre-IQIC (n=334) | Transition (n=102) | Post-IQIC (n=285) | p-Value (pre-post) | |
| Patient characteristics | ||||
| Age category (n=333, 102, 285) | 0.14 | |||
| ≤30 days | 27 (8%) | 2 (2%) | 14 (5%) | |
| 31 days to <1 year | 93 (28%) | 39 (38%) | 65 (23%) | |
| 1 to <18 years | 182 (55%) | 53 (52%) | 174 (61%) | |
| ≥18 years | 31 (9%) | 8 (8%) | 32 (11%) | |
| Malnutrition (n=330, 102, 278) | <0.001 | |||
| Normal | 168 (51%) | 32 (31%) | 175 (63%) | |
| Malnourished | 137 (42%) | 54 (53%) | 97 (35%) | |
| Emaciated | 23 (7%) | 14 (14%) | 1 (<1%) | |
| Overweight | 2 (1%) | 2 (2%) | 5 (2%) | |
| Premature | 5 (2%) | 1 (1%) | 5 (2%) | 1 |
| Major chromosomal abnormality (n=333, 102, 285) | 8 (2%) | 5 (5%) | 11 (4%) | 0.35 |
| Major non-cardiac structural anomaly | 3 (1%) | 1 (1%) | 3 (1%) | 1 |
| Major medical illness | 2 (1%) | 5 (5%) | 14 (5%) | <0.001 |
| Oxygen saturation<85% (n=307, 102, 282) | 63 (21%) | 31 (30%) | 70 (25%) | 0.24 |
| RACHS-1 risk category | 0.16 | |||
| 1 | 60 (18%) | 18 (18%) | 44 (15%) | |
| 2 | 208 (63%) | 55 (54%) | 176 (62%) | |
| 3 | 63 (19%) | 27 (26%) | 59 (21%) | |
| 4 | 1 (<1%) | 2 (2%) | 6 (2%) | |
| Outcomes | ||||
| Open chest after surgery (n= 334, 102, 283) | 4 (1%) | 6 (6%) | 15 (5%) | 0.004 |
| Any perfusion event (n=333, 102, 285) | 13 (4%) | 10 (10%) | 6 (2%) | 0.25 |
| Duration of ICU stay (hours) (n=332, 102, 285) | 52 (30–98) | 48 (28–78) | 48 (24–84) | 0.001 |
| Duration of ventilation (hours) (n=331, 102, 285) | 8 (3–24) | 7 (2–19) | 5 (0–19) | 0.002 |
| Duration of hospital stay (days) (n=326, 102, 284) | 6 (5–9) | 6 (5–10) | 5 (4–8) | 0.004 |
| Any major infection (surgical site or bacterial sepsis) | 110 (30%) | 32 (31%) | 3 (1.1%) | <0.001 |
| In-hospital mortality (n=332, 102, 285) | 29 (8.7%) | 8 (7.8%) | 17 (6.0%) | 0.22 |
| Death within 30 days of procedure | 30 (9.0%) | 7 (6.9%) | 17 (6.0%) | 0.17 |
ICU, intensive care unit; IQIC, International Quality Improvement Collaborative; RACHS, Risk Adjustment for Congenital Heart Surgery.