[Incidence of complications and surgical risk in biliary tract surgery]

Locally delimited complications originating from the surgically treated organ were recorded in 7.8 per cent of 7,640 bile duct operations, between 1970 and 1984, while systemic complications accounted for 4.6 per cent. Overall lethality was 0.8 per cent. Inflammatory gall bladder as well as choledochus findings calling for therapeutic action and advanced age together with age-related diseases were factors of relevance to prognosis. Lethality among males was higher with significance than that among females. Postoperative pancreas necrosis, pulmonary embolism, and cardiac failure were predominant causes of death. Target-oriented perioperative antibiotic prophylaxis, broader postoperative use of medicamentous thrombosis prophylaxis, and limitation of papillary dilatation to widths up to 6 mm are considered to be possible approaches to reducing the surgical risk.