Frailty linked to increased morbidity after ambulatory general surgery

Editor's Note

Frailty was associated with postoperative morbidity in patients having ambulatory general surgery procedures, independent of age, type of anesthesia, and other comorbidities, this study finds.

In this study of 140,828 patients older than 40 years of age, frailty was associated with increased adjusted odds of 30-day morbidity after hernia, breast, thyroid, or parathyroid surgery.

Patients with 2 to 3 frailty traits had more than 2 times the odds of serious complications. Hypertension, diabetes, and coronary artery disease were the most common comorbidities that contributed to frailty.

Local anesthesia with monitored anesthesia care was the only modifiable covariate associated with decreased odds of serious 30-day complications.

Surgeons should considered frailty rather than chronological age in patient selection and counseling for elective ambulatory surgery, the authors say.

Question Is frailty associated with perioperative morbidity in patients undergoing ambulatory hernia, breast, thyroid, or parathyroid surgery?

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