[A scale of anesthetic-surgical risk]

An anaesthetic and surgical risk scale, which has also a predictive power regarding the lethality and the probability of occurrence of postoperative complications, is shown. The scale scores the constitutional taints, the extent of the operation, the age, the eventual emergency, the special anaesthetic risk. A second variant scores from the constitutional viewpoint each of the 7 organ systems and adds a lowering of the risk in case of an operation performed upon a system which is directly risk generating. The lethality figure was established by applying the scale to 1,945 patients operated and by recording the lethality distribution for each risk degree, after which the function which approximates most accurately the data score thus obtained is evaluated by the method of the least squares. In this way, a direct correlation of the calculated risk with the actual morbidity and complication rate, as well as with the lethality in the group of patients with complications is obtained. As the scale is achieved by the analysis of patients belonging to the field of general surgery and orthopaedics, it is valid only for this specialty.