Open AccessMortality after open cholecystectomy in patients with cirrhosis of the liver: a population‐based study in Denmark
Author(s) -
Thulstrup Ane Marie,
Sørensen Henrik T,
Vilstrup Hendrik
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
european journal of surgery
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1741-9271
pISSN - 1102-4151
DOI - 10.1080/11024150152619327
Subject(s) - medicine , cirrhosis , cholecystectomy , alcoholic liver disease , confidence interval , gastroenterology , population , relative risk , surgery , environmental health
Objective: To find out if patients with alcoholic cirrhosis are at greater risk of dying within 30 days of cholecystectomy than patients with non‐alcoholic cirrhosis or normal controls. Design: Population‐based study Setting: Hospitals, Denmark. Subjects: 23 103 patients with liver cirrhosis recorded in the Danish National Registry during the period 1977–94, of whom 110 had an open cholecystectomy; a random sample of 1204 patients without cirrhosis taken from all patients who had a cholecystectomy during the study period. Main outcome measure: Risk of mortality. Results: In the group with alcoholic cirrhosis the 30‐day mortality was 7.7% and for the controls it was 0.9%. In patients with alcoholic cirrhosis the relative risk of death within 30 days was 11.5 (95% confidence interval 2.8 to 47.4) compared with controls, whereas that for patients with non‐alcoholic cirrhosis was 1.1 (95% CI 0.1 to 9.8) compared with controls. Conclusion: Patients with alcoholic cirrhosis have an 11‐fold increased risk of postoperative mortality after undergoing cholecystectomy. Copyright © 2001 Taylor and Francis Ltd.