Rumeysa İnci, Rohat Ak, Nurhayat Başkaya, Erdal Yılmaz, Avni Uygar Seyhan
Southern Clinics of Istanbul Eurasia - 2025;36(4):347-350
Objective: Emergency departments (EDs) have high patient volumes and elevated mortality rates. Mortality and Morbidity (M&M) conferences aim to identify causes of death and system deficiencies, thereby improving patient safety. This study retrospectively analyzed ED deaths between 2019 and 2023 and evaluated the impact of M&M conferences initiated in June 2022. Methods: This single-center, retrospective study included 1,914 patients who died in the ED between January 2019 and December 2023. Demographic data, admission characteristics, triage area, and causes of death were collected. The study period was divided into pre-M&M (January 2019-June 2022) and post-M&M (June 2022-December 2023) phases. Results: In the pre-M&M period, 1,334 deaths occurred among 1,565,124 ED visits (mortality rate: 8.47 per 10,000 visits). In the post-M&M period, 580 deaths were recorded among 1,306,517 visits (mortality rate: 4.17 per 10,000), corresponding to an approximately 51% relative reduction. The most pronounced decline was observed in the red triage area (p<0.05). The mean age of patients was lower in the post-M&M period (p=0.002). Non-traumatic deaths decreased, while trauma-related deaths significantly increased (p<0.001). Conclusion: Implementation of structured M&M conferences in the ED was associated with reduced mortality rates and improvements in clinical processes. These conferences provide opportunities for case review, promote continuous learning, and strengthen patient safety culture.
