Prioritizing perioperative organ injury prevention: a call to action from China's county-level hospitals

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Source: Frontiers Medicine

Original: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmed.2026.1758034...

Published: 2026-01-22T00:00:00Z

China performs an estimated 45 to 50 million surgical procedures in a hospital setting annually, with a significant portion performed by district hospitals[1]. Perioperative organ injuries (complications during and after surgery) represent a significant medical problem, which is caused by dysregulation of the inflammatory process or insufficient blood supply to tissues[2]. According to a German study analyzing more than 28 million surgical cases, perioperative organ injuries occurred in 4.4% of patients and were associated with a ninefold higher risk of death and an average length of hospital stay of 11.2 days[4][5]. The most common complication was acute renal failure (2.0% of cases) with 25% mortality, while liver injury had the highest mortality (68.7%)[5]. In district hospitals in China, which face limited resources and specialized support, the true incidence of these injuries is likely to be underestimated[1]. The article emphasizes the need for the introduction of specialized teams for early identification and treatment of perioperative injuries and multidisciplinary strategies for their prevention[1][2].