Background: Most studies that follow up hepatectomy cases are limited in scope to an investigation of mortality\r\nand morbidity rates or the costs and length of hospital stay. In this study the authors aimed to characterize the\r\nquality of life and to evaluate mortality and its determinants after hepatectomy.\r\nMethods: This prospective study was carried in a Post-Anaesthesia Care Unit (PACU) over 15 months, and 70\r\npatients submitted to hepatectomy were enrolled. Demographic and peri-operative characteristics were evaluated\r\nfor associations with mortality. At admission and 6 months after discharge, patients completed a Short Form-36\r\nquestionnaire (SF-36) and have their independence in Activities of Daily Living (ADL) was evaluated. Binary and\r\nmultiple logistic regression analyses were used to evaluate of associations with mortality, and the Wilcoxon signed\r\nrank test was used to compare SF-36 scores before and after 6 months after hepatectomy.\r\nResults: The mortality rate was 19% at 6 months. Multivariate analysis identified postoperative delirium as an\r\nindependent determinant for mortality. Six months after discharge, 46% patients stated that their health in general\r\nwas better or much better than that 1 year previously. Six months after hepatectomy, patients had worse scores in\r\nthe physical function domain of SF-36; however, scores for all the other domains did not differ. At this time point,\r\npatients were more dependent in instrumental ADL than before surgery (32% versus 7%, p = 0.027).\r\nConclusion: This study identified postoperative delirium as an independent risk factor for mortality 6 months after\r\nhepatectomy. After 6 months, survivors were more dependent in instrumental ADL tasks and had worse scores in\r\nthe physical function domain of SF-36.
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