Most deaths related to non-cardiac surgery occur outside operating room, finds study

Most deaths related to non-cardiac surgery occur in the recovery period (after surgery and after discharge from hospital), not during surgery, a large multicentre, international, prospective cohort study has found.

The Vascular Events in Non-cardiac Surgery Patients Cohort Evaluation (VISION) study found that 0.7% of deaths of adult patients who underwent non-cardiac surgery occurred in the operating room and 99.3% occurred after the procedure, with 29% occurring after discharge from hospital. The findings were reported in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.1

Death after surgery is …