A recent study by EuSOS provided the first report of post-operative outcomes at a European level. The findings of this study suggest that post-operative mortality may be higher than previously thought (4% overall) and that mortality may vary between nations suggesting preventable death. However, the EuSOS dataset did not include complications following surgery.

Our understanding of peri-operative outcomes remains incomplete and we need international data describing the frequency, severity and nature of complications following surgery, and the associated short-term mortality.

ISOS will run along very similar lines to the previous EuSOS study but we have learned some important lessons which will greatly improve many aspects of the ISOS project including the workload for investigators, data quality and data sharing. A key point is that patient, hospital and national level data will be anonymised with comparisons made across international regions.

To take part, each country must include at least ten hospitals and only those which include more than 20 patients will be included in the data analysis. We plan to collect data on all eligible patients during the study week.

Please register interest in the study here.