Fig. 1.

Magnitude of perioperative mortality. The three leading causes of death in the Center for Disease Control’s (CDC) annual death table for the United States in 2006 were: (1) diseases of heart (n = 631,636), (2) malignant neoplasms (n = 559,888), and (3) cerebrovascular diseases (n = 137,119). By using the Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS) for the same year, Semel et al.¹³ reported 189,690 deaths within 30 days of admission for inpatients having a surgical procedure. In magnitude, all-cause 30-day inpatient mortality after surgery approximated the third leading cause of death in the United States. Figure adapted with permission from Lippincott Williams and Wilkins/Wolters Kluwer Health. Bartels K, Karhausen J, Clambey ET, Grenz A, Eltzschig HK: Perioperative organ injury. Anesthesiology 2013, copyright 2013.¹¹