Characteristics of emergency general surgery patients with medically complex needs
| Characteristic | No. (%) of patients* n = 1244 |
|---|---|
| Age, mean ± SD, yr | 61.9 ± 17 |
| Male sex | 619 (49.8) |
| Comorbid disease | |
| Any | 704 (56.6) |
| Hypertension | 366 (29.4) |
| Diabetes | 195 (15.7) |
| Current smoker | 143 (11.5) |
| Metastatic cancer | 119 (9.6) |
| Coronary artery disease | 90 (7.2) |
| Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease | 65 (5.2) |
| Congestive heart failure | 35 (2.8) |
| Dialysis | 24 (1.9) |
| Bleeding disorder | 23 (1.8) |
| Cirrhosis | 15 (1.2) |
| ASA score at first operation | |
| 1 | 59 (4.7) |
| 2 | 256 (20.6) |
| 3 | 488 (39.2) |
| 4 | 359 (28.9) |
| 5 | 19 (1.5) |
| Missing | 63 (5.1) |
| Urgency of operation, h | |
| > 2–8 | 657 (52.8) |
| > 8–24 | 334 (26.9) |
| > 24–48 | 253 (20.3) |
| Operative timing | |
| Daytime | 521 (41.9) |
| Evening | 279 (22.4) |
| Weekend | 293 (23.6) |
| Overnight | 151 (12.1) |
| Preoperative diagnosis | |
| Small bowel obstruction | 309 (24.8) |
| Hernia | 299 (24.0) |
| Colonic neoplasm | 168 (13.5) |
| Large bowel obstruction | 74 (5.9) |
| Diverticular disease | 64 (5.1) |
| Peptic ulcer | 42 (3.4) |
| Bowel/gastric perforation | 37 (3.0) |
| Mesenteric ischemia | 20 (1.6) |
| Postoperative bleeding | 16 (1.3) |
| Stomach neoplasm | 13 (1.0) |
| Small bowel neoplasm | 13 (1.0) |
| Lower gastrointestinal tract bleed | 10 (0.8) |
| Ulcerative colitis | 9 (0.7) |
| Soft-tissue infection | 9 (0.7) |
| Clostridium difficile colitis/infectious colitis | 7 (0.6) |
| Upper gastrointestinal tract bleed | 6 (0.5) |
| Anastomotic leak | 5 (0.4) |
| Hepatic neoplasm | 2 (0.2) |
| Other | 3 (0.2) |
| Missing | 138 (11.1) |
| Operation performed† | |
| Bowel resection | 533 (42.8) |
| Hernia repair | 327 (26.3) |
| Exploratory/diagnostic | 301 (24.2) |
| Adhesiolysis | 211 (17.0) |
| Ostomy creation | 206 (16.6) |
| Incision and drainage | 34 (2.7) |
| Repair of ulcer | 30 (2.4) |
| Feeding tube placement | 17 (1.4) |
| Gastric resection | 13 (1.0) |
| Breast procedure | 6 (0.5) |