Anti-cholinergic burden and patient related clinical outcomes in an emergency general surgical setting.

Background/objective: The impact of medications with anti-cholinergic properties on morbidity and mortality of unselected adult patients admitted to the emergency general surgical setting has not been investigated.

Methods: All cases were identified prospectively from unselected adult patients admitted to the emergency general surgical ward between May to July 2016 in a UK centre with a catchment population circa 500,000. Prescribed medication lists were ascertained from case notes and electronic medical records.