Thirty-day mortality after surgery for colorectal cancer in Denmark

This study aimed to estimate the 30-day mortality after colorectal cancer (CRC) surgery in Denmark. Mortality was compared to other studies, and between departments, unadjusted and adjusted for case-mix.

All patients in Denmark with a first-time colorectal adenocarcinoma operated between 1 May 2001 and 31 December 2002 were eligible, 5187 patients were included. Mortality was adjusted for age, sex, urgency, tumour location, Dukes' stage and ASA-score.

The 30-day mortality in Denmark after CRC-surgery was 9.9%. Adjusted for case-mix, four departments had significantly higher mortality than average. The variation between the 44 departments was significant both for radically operated (P = 0.02) patients and for all operated patients (P = 0.01).

The 30-day mortality in Denmark seems to be higher than in studies from other countries, but the lack of comparable nationwide studies makes it difficult to evaluate. To uncover the reasons for the departments to diverge significantly from average, further studies are needed.