- Unintended intraoperative damage to major vessels and/or organs requiring reconstruction or resection
- Intraoperative bleeding requiring urgent treatment
- Unexpected medical conditions interrupting or changing the planned procedure
- Stroke causing patient’s permanent deficit
- Need for CPR
- Myocardial infarction with patient’s transfer to CCU/ICU/other critical care facility
- Cardiac dysrhythmia requiring invasive treatment
- Acute myocardial failure with acute pulmonary edema or drop in EF > 50%
- Pulmonary embolism with symptoms confirmed by urgent CT scan
- Need for prolonged intubation (> 24 hours after the surgical procedure)
- Respiratory failure requiring reintubation
- Need for tracheostomy
- Pleural effusion requiring drainage
- Pneumothorax requiring treatment
- Acute liver dysfunction (the Child-Pugh score > 8 for longer than 48 hours)
- Acute renal insufficiency (postoperative creatinine twice its preoperative value)/renal failure requiring CVVH or dialysis
- Infections (gastrointestinal, respiratory, urinary, or other) with both symptoms and germ isolation
- Postoperative bleeding requiring both urgent transfusions and invasive treatment
- Postoperative bowel obstruction (clinical/radiological signs of obstruction, inability to enteral feed, longer need for NG suction)
- Postoperative bowel perforation or necrosis requiring surgical treatment (or cause of death)
- Duodenal leak (irrespective of presentation, method of identification, clinical consequences, and treatment)
- Anastomotic leak (irrespective of presentation, method of identification, clinical consequences, and treatment)
- Postoperative pancreatic fistula
- Postoperative pancreatitis diagnosed both clinically and radiologically
- Other postoperative abnormal fluid from drainage and/or abdominal collections without gastrointestinal leak(s) preventing drainage removal or requiring treatment
- Delayed gastric emptying (by 10th postoperative day) requiring treatment or delaying discharge
- Other major complications requiring re-intervention or other invasive procedures
Intraoperative complications
Postoperative general complications
Postoperative surgical complications
CPR indicates cardiopulmonary resuscitation; CCU, coronary care unit; ICU, intensive care unit; EF, ejection fraction; CVVH, continuous veno-venous hemofiltration; NG, nasogastric.