The Importance of Standardised Recording of Intraoperative Adverse Events: Key Features of an Ideal Classification System (European Urology)

Perioperative safety and interventions to improve outcomes such as the surgical safety checklist [1] have attracted considerable interest. Nevertheless, approximately one in five patients experience at least one intraoperative complication [2] and one in six patients at least one postoperative complication [3]. These complications increase morbidity, mortality, and costs and reduce quality of life. In contrast to postoperative complications, for which there is an established quality and benchmarking tool in daily clinical practice and research, intraoperative adverse events are inconsistently defined, underreported, or subsumed with postoperative complications [4].