Use of the Australian and New Zealand Audit of Surgical Mortality (ANZASM) to determine potentially preventable deaths after emergency general surgery

Among the most common emergency general surgery procedures, approximately 20% of deaths are potentially preventable. For patients with potentially preventable deaths, the majority of clinical management issues occurred during the preoperative phase of care. The overall clinical management issues identified relate to 14 separate areas of patient care. Further quality improvement projects, such as enhanced recovery after surgery protocols, should address these areas of clinical management issues to improve future patient mortality rates.