Mortality and postoperative care after emergency laparotomy.
OBJECTIVE
Emergency laparotomy is a common high-risk surgical procedure, but with few outcome data and few data on postoperative care. We aimed to observe mortality within a mixed general surgical population and to explore the potential impact of postoperative care on mortality.


METHODS
A prospective observational study of 124 patients undergoing emergency laparotomy. For all patients, overall mortality and 30-day survival were observed; the predicted death rate (PDR) using the P-POSSUM (Portsmouth predictor - Physiological and Operative Severity Score for the enUmeration of Mortality and Morbidity) score and the standardised mortality ratio (SMR) were calculated.


RESULTS
Twenty-four patients died (19.4%); 21 in the first 30 days (16.9%). Twenty-six patients were over 80 years; 10 died (38%). PDR for all patients was 27.4%. The overall SMR was 0.71. Eighty-seven patients (70.2%) followed a postanaesthesia care unit (PACU)-ward pathway (observed mortality 13.6%; mean PDR 15.4%; SMR 0.82). Thirty (24.2%) patients followed an ICU-high dependency unit (HDU)-ward pathway (observed mortality 40.0%; mean PDR 57.2%; SMR 0.69). Six patients (4.8%) followed a PACU-HDU-ward pathway (observed mortality 0%, mean PDR 41.8%, SMR 0.0).


CONCLUSIONS
Mortality after emergency laparotomy was high and very high in patients more than 80 years of age. The SMR was higher in the PACU-ward pathway compared to the ICU-HDU-ward pathway, suggesting room for improvement in the postoperative period.
Clarke
Adrian
A
University Hospital Wales, Cardiff, UK.
Murdoch
Henry
H
Thomas
Matthew J
MJ
Cook
Tim M
TM
Peden
Carol J
CJ
D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003422:Critical Care / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004630:Emergencies; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007813:Laparotomy / Q000379:methods* / Q000401:mortality; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011182:Postoperative Care / Q000379:methods*; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000401:mortality / Q000517:prevention & control*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011997:Recovery Room; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D015996:Survival Rate