A Retrospective Cohort Study on One-Year Mortality Following Emergency Laparotomy: A Tertiary Centre Experience From Western Australia

Background Emergency laparotomy is a common general surgical procedure associated with a high mortality and morbidity profile. While short-term outcomes following emergency laparotomy have been increasingly described, there remains a paucity of literature on long-term outcomes in Australia. We report our one-year mortality following emergency laparotomy at Royal Perth Hospital, Australia. Methodology A retrospective observational series of emergency laparotomies performed during 2019 and 2020 at Royal Perth Hospital was collected. The primary endpoint is the one-year mortality, and the secondary endpoints are patient demography, COVID-19 status, ASA classification, surgical category, operative indication, primary surgical pathology, procedure and surgical duration, ICU stay, post-operative destination, length of stay, 30-day mortality, and 90-day mortality. Subgroup analysis was performed for years 2019 and 2020. Results A total of 272 emergency laparotomies were performed during the two-year study period. The average age was 61 years (range 18-98, SD +/- 18.32). The majority of patients were in the ASA classification III (n= 134, 49.26%). The average length of patients' stay was 14.17 days (median 10, IQR 11). Moreover, 31.98% of patients were admitted directly to the ICU following emergency laparotomy. One year mortality was 16.6%. However, a significant difference in the long-term mortality rates was observed between the two calendar years, 24.6% in 2019 and 8.66% in 2020. The one-month mortality rate was 7.33%, and the three-month mortality rate was 10.85%. Conclusion The one-year mortality rate observed is high and considerable and similar to experiences published elsewhere. The significant reduction in mortality during the study period warrants further investigation and may reflect improved planning and attitudes around these high-risk surgeries.