Emergency colorectal surgery has a high risk of mortality and morbidity because of incomplete bowel preparation, bacterial proliferation, and contamination. In this study, we investigated the outcomes and the risk factors affecting mortality in patients who had undergone emergency surgery for the treatment of various colorectal diseases.
This study is a retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data to survey the clinical results for patients who had undergone emergency colorectal surgery from January 2014 to December 2014. We analyzed various clinicopathologic factors, which were divided into 3 categories: preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative.
A total of 50 patients had undergone emergency colorectal surgery during the time period covered by this study. Among them, 10 patients (20%) died during the postoperative period. A simple linear regression analysis showed that the risk factors for mortality were old age, preoperative hypotension, and a high American Society of Anesthesiologist (ASA) score. Moreover, a multiple linear regression analysis showed a high ASA score and preoperative hypotension to be independent risk factors.
In this study, emergency colorectal surgery showed a relatively high mortality rate. Furthermore, the independent risk factors for mortality were preoperative hypotension and high ASA score; thus, patients with these characteristics need to be evaluated more carefully and receive better care if the mortality rate is to be reduced.
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Laparoscopy continues to be increasingly adopted for elective colorectal resections. However, its role in an emergency setting remains controversial. The aim of this study was to compare the outcomes between laparoscopic and open colectomies performed for emergency colorectal conditions.
A retrospective review of all patients who underwent emergency laparoscopic colectomies for various surgical conditions was performed. These patients were matched for age, gender, surgical diagnosis and type of surgery with patients who underwent emergency open colectomies.
Twenty-three emergency laparoscopic colectomies were performed from April 2006 to October 2011 for patients with lower gastrointestinal tract bleeding (6), colonic obstruction (4) and colonic perforation (13). The hand-assisted laparoscopic technique was utilized in 15 cases (65.2%). There were 4 (17.4%) conversions to the open technique. The operative time was longer in the laparoscopic group (175 minutes vs. 145 minutes, P = 0.04), and the duration of hospitalization was shorter in the laparoscopic group (6 days vs. 7 days, P = 0.15). The overall postoperative morbidity rates were similar between the two groups (P = 0.93), with only 3 patients in each group requiring postoperative surgical intensive-care-unit stays or reoperations. There were no mortalities. The cost analysis did not demonstrate any significant differences in the procedural (P = 0.57) and the nonprocedural costs (P = 0.48) between the two groups.
Emergency laparoscopic colectomy in a carefully-selected patient group is safe. Although the operative times were longer, the postoperative outcomes were comparable to those of the open technique. The laparoscopic group did not incur a higher cost.
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