Inpatient Surgery and In-Hospital Mortality

Hospitals with low and high perioperative death rates have surprisingly similar rates of perioperative complications, which suggests that “failure to rescue” is the primary determinant of in-hospital mortality.

Mortality associated with inpatient surgery varies widely in the U.S. Although thorough preoperative risk assessment can help minimize surgical complications, discrepancies exist in how hospitals recognize and respond when major perioperative complications arise.

Researchers evaluated data from the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program on 84,730 patients who had undergone general or vascular surgical procedures at more than 150 hospitals. The analysis was restricted to inpatient procedures with mortality rates >1%. Risk-adjusted death rates varied widely among hospitals — from 3.5% to 6.9%. High-mortality and low-mortality hospitals had similar mixes of procedures (e.g., colectomy, gastrectomy, abdominal …

Reviewing Author

Neil H. Winawer, MD, FHM

Disclosures

Nothing to disclose

Neil H. Winawer, MD, FHM

Disclosures

Nothing to disclose