Postoperative Mortality and Morbidity

Abstract

As can be expected with this surgical method, the surgical risk is relatively low. A major part of the operation consists of the anatomic preparation of the superficial temporal artery. Surgical intervention in this region does not severely affect the general condition of the patient. The craniotomy and the further extension of it does not cause any strain to the patient. The preparation of the cortical vessel and the anastomosis itself, the technically most difficult part of the operation, takes place in the cortex. Intervention in this region does not involve any risk either. It should be remembered, however, that the anesthesia itself represents a certain risk and that the patients involved in the operation frequently suffer from a severely damaged circulatory system. Although the actual operation is more or less harmless, a surgical risk is involved because the majority of patients have a general sclerotic disease, such as coronary arteriosclerosis, the aftereffects of myocardiac infarction, or stenoses of the large peripheral vessels. The mortality rate nonetheless must be considered to be very low. All major statistics report a surgical mortality rate (i. e., death occurring within 30 days after the operation) of between 3 and 5 percent.