[Death on the operating table and death in the early post-operative period : recommendations of forensic pathologists].

Death during an operation represents a severe event for physicians and family of the deceased. A further difficulty arises when certifying the cause and manner of death because medical staff are often afraid that they will incriminate themselves when declaring an unnatural death or an unclear manner of death but are also afraid to issue a false statement by declaring a natural death. In such cases of mors in tabula it is recommended to declare an unclear manner of death because this leads to police investigations and in the majority of the cases to exoneration of the medical staff.