Mortalidad en las primeras 48 horas del ingreso en un servicio de cirugía general y digestiva
- Zeballos, J 1
- Enríquez-Navascués, J. M. 1
- Timoteo, A. 1
- Elorza, G. 1
- Carrillo, A. 1
- Sainz-Lete, A. 1
- Goena-Iglesias, I. 1
- 1 Hospital Universitario Donostia. Servicio de Cirugía General y Digestiva
ISSN: 1139-8264
Year of publication: 2015
Volume: 18
Issue: 1
Pages: 3-6
Type: Article
More publications in: Revista española de investigaciones quirúrgicas
Abstract
Aim. Early surgical mortality within the first 48 hours is a parameter used as “sentinel" of quality in surgery, so it is impor- tant to identify its clinical and epidemiological characteristics. Materials and Methods. We performed a descriptive, retrospective, observational study including patients who died within 48 hours of admission at a plant in general and digestive surgery, during the period between January 2002 and December 2011. Demographic variables were collected, mode of admission and diagnosis, comorbidity, surgical risk and therapeutic approach. We excluded patients who died of trauma. Results. From January 2002 to December 2011 were carried out 48,716 income, of which 417 patients died (0.85%) and 28 patients died within 48 hours of admission (0.057%). The average age of these patients was 81 years (55-94), there was no predominance of sex. 96% of those died within the first 48 hours had an emergency admission. The cause of death in half of the cases was acute mesenteric ischemia. 89,% of patients had a severe comorbidity (ASA III - IV). 75% of deaths occurred in the first 5 years of the study period. Conclusion. Early surgical mortality is linked to elderly patients with poor baseline health and emergency surgery. This uni- queness of early postoperative mortality and the type of patients who present it, makes this data of little value as a criterio n of quality of care. The reduced early mortality in the most recent years may have several explanations.