New risk calculator estimates chance of surgical complications

Patient Safety Monitor Alert

February 3, 2010

As tools that have been around for years to estimate risk for heart surgery, risk calculators are now being used for many other procedures to help patients and caregivers decide if surgery is best treatment option, reports The Wall Street Journal. The American College of Surgeons plans to roll out risk calculators for 18 new types of procedures, and it already has introduced risk calculators for surgeries of the colon and pancreas.

There are many risk factors that patients and caregivers should consider to determine whether a patient should have surgery, and for the most part, caregivers do their best to weigh these risks. The calculators, however, have the luxury of comparing patient risk factors with a database of patient records collected as part of the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program.