New colorectal surgery risk calculator

CHICAGO, June 15 (UPI) -- A U.S. health association has developed a calculator to help determine colorectal surgery risks.

The research, published in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons, considered 30 predictive variables together with outcomes at 30 days and selected 15 predictive variables for the universal model.

Included among these 15 were age, body mass index, bloodstream infection, preoperative laboratory values of albumin, creatinine and partial thromboplastin time, and shortness of breath.

"This novel predictive tool will help surgeons and patients more accurately weigh the risks and potential benefits of colorectal operations," Mark Cohen of the American College of Surgeons said in a statement.

"The calculator provides a comprehensive assessment of risk based on both patient and hospital factors and may serve as a template for the development of similar tools for other types of operations."

The study was based on data from the ACS National Surgical Quality Improvement Program on 28,863 patients who had colorectal operations at 182 hospitals in 2006 to 2007. The model was then validated against 2005 data from 3,037 colorectal operations conducted at 37 hospitals.