Mortality after open cholecystectomy in patients with cirrhosis of the liver: a population-based study in Denmark.
OBJECTIVE
To find out if patients with alcoholic cirrhosis are at greater risk of dying within 30 days of cholecystectomy than patients with non-alcoholic cirrhosis or normal controls.


METHODS
Population-based study.


METHODS
Hospitals, Denmark.


METHODS
23103 patients with liver cirrhosis recorded in the Danish National Registry during the period 1977-94, of whom 110 had an open cholecystectomy; a random sample of 1204 patients without cirrhosis taken from all patients who had a cholecystectomy during the study period.


METHODS
Risk of mortality.


RESULTS
In the group with alcoholic cirrhosis the 30-day mortality was 7.7% and for the controls it was 0.9%. In patients with alcoholic cirrhosis the relative risk of death within 30 days was 11.5 (95% confidence interval 2.8 to 47.4) compared with controls, whereas that for patients with non-alcoholic cirrhosis was 1.1 (95% CI 0.1 to 9.8) compared with controls.


CONCLUSIONS
Patients with alcoholic cirrhosis have an 11-fold increased risk of postoperative mortality after undergoing cholecystectomy.
Thulstrup
A M
AM
Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Aarhus University Hospital and Aalborg Hospital, Denmark.
Sørensen
H T
HT
Vilstrup
H
H
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002763:Cholecystectomy / Q000401:mortality*; D003718:Denmark / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008104:Liver Cirrhosis, Alcoholic / Q000150:complications*; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012042:Registries