title: [The incidence and cause of death following surgery for benign biliary tract disease].
abstract: A total of 4056 consecutive patients operated for benign biliary tract disease between January 1983 and June 1990 were reviewed retrospectively. There were 71 in-hospital deaths, representing 1.75% of morality rate. Cholecystectomy was performed in 2275 patients; common bile duct exploration was carried out in 1494, with operative mortality rates of 0.4% and 3.1% respectively. Sepsis was the leading cause of mortality. The second common cause of death was hepatic failure, and respiratory failure the third. Cardiovascular problems accounted for 11.3% of death, which was much lower than reports from western series. Other causes of mortality included hypovolemic shock, anaphylactic shock, epilepsy and hypoglycemia. Of the total 4056 patients, 28.5% underwent emergency surgery. The mortality rate for emergency surgery was 3.6 times higher than for those who underwent elective operations (p less than 0.005) Significantly higher mortality rates were also seen for those aged over 70 years and of male gender. Because the mortality rate of patients who underwent emergency operation due to acute inflammatory or obstructive complications were much higher than that of elective operation group, we suggested early surgical intervention for the symptomatic patients before complications occurred.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Veterans General Hospital-Kaohsiung, Taipei.
authors.forename: S I
authors.initials: SI
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: K T
authors.initials: KT
authors.lastname: Mok
authors.forename: C H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Su
authors.forename: C H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Chiang
authors.forename: W Y
authors.initials: WY
authors.lastname: Lui
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001660:Biliary Tract Diseases / Q000401:mortality / Q000601:surgery*; D002423:Cause of Death; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged