Figure 2.

Duration of hospital stay for general surgical patients identified from the CHKS and ICNARC databases. CHKS database: standard, all patients admitted to hospital for a general surgical procedure with an overall mortality rate of less than 5%; high risk, subpopulation of patients undergoing a procedure with an overall mortality rate of 5% or more. ICNARC database: ICU, general surgical patients admitted directly to the intensive care unit following surgery; ward to ICU, patients admitted to the intensive care unit following initial postoperative care on a standard ward.