When Is Death Inevitable after Emergency Laparotomy? Analysis of the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program Database

Abstract

The models developed in this study have a high discriminative ability to stratify the operative risk in a broad range of acute abdominal emergencies. These data will assist surgeons, patients, and their families in making end-of-life decisions in the face of medical futility with greater certainty when emergency surgery is being contemplated.