MORTALITY AND POSTOPERATIVE CAUSE OF DEAT H IN PEDIATRIC-SURGERY

We analysed our patients in pediatric surgery from 1959 to 1990 in reg ard to post-operative causes of death according to the Petren scheme. ''Post-operative infection'' as a cause of death dropped from 45% to 2 %, ''post-operative pneumonia'' from 10% to 4%. Death due to accompany ing congenital defects has increased from 3% to 15%. The cause of deat h ''main disease'' remained the same with 18%. Post-operative causes o f death due to wrong diagnoses ranged at 2%, wrong treatment as cause of death decreased from 18% to 4%. In the 41 years' range of our surve y, 115,598 children were operated as in-patients. During the first 5-y ear-period postoperative mortality was 2.2%, during the last 5-year-pe riod 0.12%.