“An Analytical Study To Compare The Effectiveness Of P-Possum And Possum Scores In Predicting Mortality And Morbidity Following Emergency Laparotomy"

Background: Surgical outcomes are increasingly scrutinized as part of efforts to ensure accountability and improve the quality of care. The Physiological and Operative Severity Score for the enumeration of Mortality and Morbidity (POSSUM) and its modification, the Portsmouth POSSUM (P-POSSUM), are widely used tools for predicting surgical outcomes. Objective: This study aimed to assess the accuracy of POSSUM in predicting morbidity and P-POSSUM in predicting mortality for patients undergoing emergency laparotomies in a North Indian tertiary care center. Methods: A hospital-based, analytic observational study was conducted at S.M.S. Medical College and Hospital, Jaipur, involving 160 patients who underwent emergency laparotomy. Preoperative physiological and intraoperative data were collected and used to calculate POSSUM and P-POSSUM scores. Mortality predictions were compared using linear and exponential analyses, and the observed-to-expected (O:E) mortality ratio was calculated. Statistical significance was determined using the Chi-square test. Results: The mean age of the cohort was 49.65 years, with males comprising 64.37% of the population. Peptic perforation (20.6%) was the most common cause of surgery. POSSUM significantly over-predicted mortality (O:E ratio = 0.26, p=0.04), while P-POSSUM provided a more accurate prediction (O:E ratio = 0.45, p=0.81). POSSUM also overestimated morbidity (O:E ratio = 0.8, p=0.51). Conclusion: While POSSUM tends to over-predict both mortality and morbidity, P-POSSUM offers a more accurate prediction of mortality in patients undergoing emergency laparotomy. These scoring systems can serve as valuable tools for surgical audits and improving the quality of care, though careful selection of the appropriate predictive model is essential