title: Hospital and 28-day mortality amongst 'high risk' surgical patients. A retrospective cohort study.
abstract: The likely mortality benefit from pre-optimisation of high risk surgical patients depends on the baseline risk of death. The baseline risk estimated from the control groups of studies of pre-optimisation may not reflect the risk in other institutions. We determined the 28-day mortality of 'high risk' adult surgical patients in our institution by performing a retrospective cohort study of 554 patients undergoing major or ultra-major general or vascular surgery lasting more than two hours. Patients were identified as being high risk based on the presence of risk factors used in previous studies of pre-optimisation. The 28-day mortality (95% CI) was 0% for patients with no risk factors and 2.3 (0.8 to 3.7)% for patients with at least one risk factor. These data indicate that the risk of death amongst high risk surgical patients may vary considerably between institutions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Prince of Wales Hospital, Shatin, Hong Kong.
authors.forename: C D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Gomersall
authors.forename: S J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Ramsay
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Leung
mesh_terms: D015331:Cohort Studies; D017558:Elective Surgical Procedures / Q000401:mortality; D006723:Hong Kong; D017052:Hospital Mortality; D006784:Hospitals, Teaching; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008875:Middle Aged; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000401:mortality; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D013514:Surgical Procedures, Operative / Q000401:mortality*; D013995:Time; D014656:Vascular Surgical Procedures / Q000401:mortality