Association of frailty with postop outcomes, resource use

Editor's Note

After emergency general surgery, frailty is associated with increased rates of mortality, discharge to an institution, and resource use, this Canadian study finds.

Of 77,184 patients analyzed, 19,779 were frail. Death within 1 year of surgery occurred in 33.5% of frail patients, compared with 19.8% of nonfrail patients. Risk of death for frail patients varied significantly across the postoperative period but was particularly high immediately after surgery.

Frailty was adversely associated with all secondary outcomes, including a 5.82-fold increase in the odds of discharge to an institution.

Strategies to improve outcomes in frail emergency general surgery patients need to be developed and tested, the researchers conclude.

BACKGROUND: Older patients undergoing emergency general surgery (EGS) experience high rates of postoperative morbidity and mortality. Studies focused primarily on elective surgery indicate that frailty is an important predictor of adverse outcomes in older surgical patients. The population-level ...