Background and Goal of Study: Analyze the factors that determine the intraoperative mortality, perioperative, and in the first week, of surgical patients in based on the analysis of all operative deaths
Materials and Methods: We performed a cross-sectional study over surgical death patients, for a four years (2005-09) period. 809 death patients in total over 82412 procedures made were enrolled in this study.
Pre, intra and postoperative data were analysed. We considered four periods of analysis at the time of death: The intraoperative, the first 48 postoperative hours, the first postoperative week, and after the first postoperative week.
To correlate different variables we used the chi square of Pearson and t-Student.
Results and Discussion:
Table: [Pre and intra-op. data according to time of death]
Table: [Post-operative data according to time of death]
Conclusion(s): Emergency surgery was a independent risk factor of mortality.
Patients who died in the first 48 postoperative hours had significantly higher pre-operative risk (ASA, Charlson index, Surgical Risk Scale).
Intra-operative complications rarely influenced the mortality after 48 hours from surgery.
Postoperative data were the main risk factors of mortality in surgical patients. Postoperative hemodynamic disorders and multi-organic failure were significantly more frequent when patients died within the first 48 postoperative hours.
Highlighted as causes of death: Cardiac death and hemorrhagic shock when death happened in the operating room or in the first 48 postoperative hours, and respiratory failure and sepsis when death happened after 48 postoperative hours.
