Results: During the study period 212 patients underwent surgery. Overall, 51.9% of patients experienced a nonfatal complication (32.5% minor and 19.4% major), 6.6% died in hospital and 22.6% experienced a loss of independence. On multivariate analysis nonfatal complications (p < 0.001), hospital mortality (p = 0.021) and loss of independence at discharge (p < 0.001) were independently associated with health care costs. These adverse events respectively accounted for 30%, 4% and 10% of the total costs of hospital care