Surgery and risk of Guillain-Barré syndrome: a French nationwide epidemiologic study

Objectives: To assess the association between Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS) and recent surgery based on French nationwide data.
Methods: Data were extracted from the French health administrative databases (SNIIRAM / PMSI). All patients hospitalized for GBS between 2009 and 2014 were identified by ICD-10 code G61.0 as main diagnosis. Patients previously hospitalized for GBS in 2006, 2007 and 2008 were excluded. Surgical procedures were identified from the hospital database. Hospitalizations for surgery with no infection diagnosis code entered while the hospital stay were also identified. The association between GBS and a recent surgical procedure was estimated using a case-crossover design. Case and referent windows were defined as 1–60 days and 366–425 days before GBS hospitalization, respectively. Analyses were adjusted for previous episodes of gastroenteritis and respiratory tract infection, identified by drug dispensing data.
Results: Out of the 8,364 GBS cases included, 175 and 25...