[Mortality in a general surgery department of a University Hospital Center. A study during 1985: 1409 surgically treated cases, 45 postoperative deaths].

In 1985, 1409 consecutive patients underwent surgery in one surgical Professorial Unit of Lille (France). 45 (3.2%) died post-operatively: 28 (62%) were more than 70 years of age, 23 (50%) died after emergency procedure and 18 (40%) died in sepsis. Nothwerthy in retrospect, 20 (44%) died after surgical indication or procedure of questionable legitimacy. Preoperative appraisal of the surgical risk is still challenging nowadays but conclusions drawn from those charts should avoid identical outcome in similar patients.