Factors Related to Complications after Emergency Abdominal Surgery

Abstract

Introduction: Post-surgical complications are a global health problem.

Objective: To identify some factors related to complications after conventional emergency abdominal surgery.

Methods: An observational, descriptive study was conducted on a series of 240 patients who presented complications after conventional emergency abdominal surgery (2021-2023) in the general surgery department of the Saturnino Lora Hospital in Santiago de Cuba. The variables analyzed were medical and surgical complications, operations according to contamination, surgical time, hospital stay, condition at discharge, and causes of death. The primary data taken from the medical records were entered into a database and processed using the SPSS/PC statistical package, version 18.0. Descriptive summary measures were used.

Results: A total 253 complications were reported, 202 (79.8 %) surgical and 51(20,2 %)

medical. Medical and surgical complications predominated in patients with dirty procedures. The highest number of complications occurred in patients whose operating time was equal to or greater than two hours. Surgical complications were more common in patients with a hospital stay of 15 to 21 days, and medical complications were more common in patients with a hospital stay of up to seven days. Thirty (12.5%) patients died.

Conclusions: Factors related to both surgical and medical postoperative infections following conventional emergency abdominal surgery included dirty operations, surgical time, and prolonged hospital stay for surgical complications. The most common direct causes of death were septic shock and multiple intra-abdominal abscesses in patients who underwent reoperation.