title: Can POSSUM, a scoring system for perioperative surgical risk, predict postoperative clinical course?
abstract: POSSUM, a Physiological and Operative Severity Score for the enUmeration of Mortality and morbidity, is a scoring system which assesses perioperative surgical risks (Copeland GP et al.: Br J Surg, 1991, Vol 78, 356-360). The POSSUM scoring system consists of two categories of assessment to assess the risk of surgery. A 12-factor (age, cardiac status, pulse rate, systolic blood pressure, respiratory status, Glasgow Coma Score, serum concentration of urea, potassium and sodium, hemoglobin concentration, white cell count and findings on electrocardiography) and 4-grade physiological score (PS) were developed. This was combined with a 6-factor (type of surgical procedure, number of procedures, blood loss, peritoneal soiling, presence of malignancy and mode of surgery) and 4-grade operative severity score (OSS). The present paper attempts to validate it retrospectively. Postoperative hospitalization period and duration of antibiotics administration were both significantly correlated with OSS, but not with PS. These results suggest that the POSSUM scoring system is useful for predicting the postoperative clinical course.
authors.affiliation: Division of Surgery, Terada General Hospital, Mie, Japan.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Gotohda
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Iwagaki
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Itano
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Horiki
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Fujiwara
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Saito
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hizuta
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Isozaki
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Takakura
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Terada
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Tanaka
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D011183:Postoperative Complications; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D013514:Surgical Procedures, Operative / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000401:mortality*