title: The incidence and causes of postoperative jaundice. A prospective study.
abstract: Jaundice often complicates recovery after surgery. We have studied 180 patients undergoing 218 major operations and found an incidence of 3.7% severe  jaundice and 16.5% mild jaundice. The causes of the jaundice were diverse, but the most important was a bilirubin overload (primarily from blood transfusion) which could not be excreted effectively by a liver whose cellular metabolism was disturbed. We found no evidence of a relationship between halothane and liver damage.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000410:Alanine Transaminase / Q000097:blood; D001663:Bilirubin / Q000097:blood; D001706:Biopsy; D056486:Chemical and Drug Induced Liver Injury; D006221:Halothane / Q000009:adverse effects; D006801:Humans; D007565:Jaundice / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D008099:Liver / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D008657:Metabolic Clearance Rate; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D009954:Ornithine Carbamoyltransferase / Q000097:blood; D011183:Postoperative Complications; D011446:Prospective Studies; D065227:Transfusion Reaction
chemical_list: D009954:Ornithine Carbamoyltransferase; D000410:Alanine Transaminase; D001663:Bilirubin; D006221:Halothane