[Risk factors in surgery of obstructive jaundice. Retrospective studies apropos of 176 patients]

With the help of 28 criteria, the authors analyze the factors influencing mortality and morbidity related to surgery in jaundiced patients. The results differed according to whether the patients were examined as a whole or whether patients with benign and malignant lesions were considered separately; there was a significant difference in mortality between these two groups. Five factors were noted to predict an unfavorable outcome in patients with malignant lesions: the duration of symptoms, the presence of preoperative diabetes, renal failure, hypoalbuminemia and the type of surgical procedure. In patients with benign lesions, five factors were also significant: previous biliary surgery, decreased prothrombin level, leucocytosis, renal failure and an age greater than 80 years. It is thus possible to isolate a population "at risk" for whom surgery should be preceded by the correction of disorders due to cholestasis, and particularly the renal consequences.