Severity of Postoperative Complications From the Perspective of the Patient

Although provider-derived surgical complication severity grading systems exist, little is known about the patient perspective.

To assess patient-rated complication severity and determine concordance with existing grading systems.

A survey asked general surgery patients to rate the severity of 21 hypothetical postoperative events representing grades 1 to 5 complications from the Accordion Severity Grading System. Concordance with the Accordion scale was examined. Separately, descriptive ratings of 18 brief postoperative events were ranked.

One hundred sixty-eight patients returned a mailed survey following their discharge from a general surgery service. Patients rated grade 4 complications highest. Grade 1 complications were rated similarly to grade 5 and higher than grades 2 and 3 (P ≤ .01). Patients rated one event not considered an Accordion scale complication higher than all but grade 4 complications (P < .001). The brief events also did not follow the Accordion scale, other than the grade 6 complication ranking highest.

Patient-rated complication severity is discordant with provider-derived grading systems, suggesting the need to explore important differences between patient and provider perspectives.