Our research- Max Bell group
Our research focuses on morbidity and mortality after major surgery and critical illness.
Around 50 000 patients are treated in Intensive Care Units and more than 800 000 patients undergo surgery and anesthesia in Sweden every year. With perioperative and intensive care offered to an elder and comorbid population complications increase, contributing to long-term morbidity. In the perioperative setting complications increase risk of death five-fold. Perioperative death, within 30 days following surgery, has been reported to be the 3rd leading cause of mortality, exceeded only by heart disease and cancer.
We have multiple ongoing projects regarding long-term mortality and morbidity after perioperative care; focusing on myocardial injury and -infarction, acute kidney injury as well as cognitive dysfunction and stroke. We are investigating intraoperative hypotension and other modifiable factors. For future interventional trials to be effective it is essential to focus on the right patients, those with the highest risk of adverse events; can we describe these at-risk-individuals? What are the perioperative risks of stroke, pneumonia and acute kidney injury? We also study potential effects of wireless monitoring of high-risk patients in the postoperative and post intensive care setting.
With regards to critical illness and multiorgan failure, we investigate the impact of acute kidney injury (AKI) and study both kidney injury biomarkers- and functional biomarkers and their association with long-term outcomes. Is it possible to detect patients at risk for further renal deterioration and can interventional programs minimize that risk?