Two-thirds of the studies found that patients who suffered surgical complications had significantly worse postoperative psychosocial outcomes even after controlling for preoperative psychosocial outcomes , clinical and demographic factors .
Surgical complications appear to be a significant and often long-term predictor of patient postoperative psychosocial outcomes .
The results highlight the importance of attending to patients ' psychological needs in the aftermath of surgical complications
OBJECTIVE Surgical complications may affect patients psychologically due to challenges such as prolonged recovery or long-lasting disability .
Psychological distress could further delay patients ' recovery as stress delays wound healing and compromises immunity .
This review investigates whether surgical complications adversely affect patients ' postoperative well-being and the duration of this impact .
The incidence and nature of surgical adverse events in Colorado and Utah in 1992.
BACKGROUND Despite more than three decades of research on iatrogenesis , surgical adverse events have not been subjected to detailed study to identify their characteristics . This information could be invaluable , however , for guiding quality assurance and research efforts aim ed at reducing the occurrence of surgical adverse events . Thus we conducted a retrospective chart review of 15,000 r and omly selected admissions to Colorado and Utah hospitals during 1992 to identify and analyze these events . METHODS We selected a representative sample of hospitals from Utah and Colorado and then r and omly sample d 15,000 nonpsychiatric discharges from 1992 . With use of a 2-stage record- review process modeled on previous adverse event studies , we estimated the incidence , morbidity , and preventability of surgical adverse events that caused death , disability at the time of discharge , or prolonged hospital stay . We characterized their distribution by type of injury and by physician specialty and determined incidence rates by procedure . RESULTS Adverse events were no more likely in surgical care than in nonsurgical care . Nonetheless , 66 % of all adverse events were surgical , and the annual incidence among hospitalized patients who underwent an operation or child delivery was 3.0 % ( confidence interval 2.7 % to 3.4 % ) . Among surgical adverse events 54 % ( confidence interval 48.9 % to 58.9 % ) were preventable . We identified 12 common operations with significantly elevated adverse event incidence rates that ranged from 4.4 % for hysterectomy ( confidence interval 2.9 % to 6.8 % ) to 18.9 % for abdominal aortic aneurysm repair ( confidence interval 8.3 % to 37.5 % ) . Eight operations also carried a significantly higher risk of a preventable adverse event : lower extremity bypass graft ( 11.0 % ) , abdominal aortic aneurysm repair ( 8.1 % ) , colon resection ( 5.9 % ) , coronary artery bypass graft/cardiac valve surgery ( 4.7 % ) , transurethral  resection of the prostate or of a bladder tumor ( 3.9 % ) , cholecystectomy ( 3.0 % ) , hysterectomy ( 2.8 % ) , and appendectomy ( 1.5 % ) . Among all surgical adverse events , 5.6 % ( confidence interval 3.7 % to 8.3 % ) result ed in death , accounting for 12.2 % ( confidence interval 6.9 % to 21.4 % ) of all hospital deaths in Utah and Colorado . Technique-related complications , wound infections , and postoperative bleeding produced nearly half of all surgical adverse events . CONCLUSION These findings provide direction for research to identify the causes of surgical adverse events and for targeted quality improvement efforts
Two-thirds of the studies found that patients who suffered surgical complications had significantly worse postoperative psychosocial outcomes even after controlling for preoperative psychosocial outcomes , clinical and demographic factors .
Surgical complications appear to be a significant and often long-term predictor of patient postoperative psychosocial outcomes .
The results highlight the importance of attending to patients ' psychological needs in the aftermath of surgical complications
OBJECTIVE Surgical complications may affect patients psychologically due to challenges such as prolonged recovery or long-lasting disability .
Psychological distress could further delay patients ' recovery as stress delays wound healing and compromises immunity .
This review investigates whether surgical complications adversely affect patients ' postoperative well-being and the duration of this impact .