Patient selection: following bariatric surgery
Mortality was the most important postoperative outcome. It is important to monitor mortality over a meaningful period following surgery and to compare it to the rate seen in patients not undergoing surgery.
Major infectious morbidities:
(1) deep surgical site infection
(2) organ space infection
(3) pneumonia
(4) sepsis
(5) septic shock
Major non-infectious morbidities:
(1) reintubation
(2) mechanical ventilation > 48 hours
(3) return to the operating room
(4) deep vein thrombosis (DVT)
(5) pulmonary embolism
(6) cardiac arrest
(7) acute myocardial infarction
(8) coma
(9) stroke
(10) renal insufficiency or acute renal failure
(11) transfusion of > 4 units of packed RBCs within a 72 hour period
Minor infectious morbidities:
(1) urinary tract infection (UTI)
(2) superficial surgical site infection
where:
• Hypotension or shock due to other cause would be an important morbidity.
• Return to the operating room would probably cover wound dehiscence.
• Postoperative delirium can be a significant morbidity.
• Renal insufficiency and acute renal failure were listed as 2 separate morbidities in the text.