Frailty and emergency surgery in the elderly: protocol of a prospective, multicenter study in Italy for evaluating perioperative outcome (The FRAILESEL Study)

Machine Learning Approaches for the Prediction of Postoperative Major Complications in Patients Undergoing Surgery for Bowel Obstruction

BACKGROUND

Performing emergency surgery for bowel obstruction continues to place a significant strain on the healthcare system. Conventional assessment methods for outcomes in bowel obstruction cases often concentrate on isolated factors, and the evaluation of results for individuals with bowel obstruction remains poorly studied. This study aimed to examine the risk factors associated with major postoperative complications.

METHODS

We retrospectively analyzed 99 patients undergoing surgery from 2015 to 2022. We divided the patients into two groups: (1) benign-related obstruction (n = 68) and (2) cancer-related obstruction (n = 31). We used logistic regression, KNN, and XGBOOST. We calculated the receiver operating characteristic curve and accuracy of the model.

RESULTS

Colon obstructions were more frequent in the cancer group (p = 0.005). Operative time, intestinal resection, and stoma were significantly more frequent in the cancer group. Major complications were at 41% for the cancer group vs. 20% in the benign group (p = 0.03). Uni- and multivariate analysis showed that the significant risk factors for major complications were cancer-related obstruction and CRP. The best model was KNN, with an accuracy of 0.82.

CONCLUSIONS

Colonic obstruction is associated with tumor-related blockage. Malignant cancer and an increase in C-reactive protein (CRP) are significant risk factors for patients who have undergone emergency surgery due to major complications. KNN could improve the process of counseling and the perioperative management of patients with intestinal obstruction in emergency settings.

Laparoscopic Treatment of Perforated Peptic Ulcer: A Propensity Score-Matched Comparison of Interrupted Stitches Repair versus Knotless Barbed Suture

Background: Peptic ulcers result from imbalanced acid production, and in recent decades, proton pump inhibitors have proven effective in treating them. However, perforated peptic ulcers (PPU) continue to occur with a persistent high mortality rate when not managed properly. The advantages of the laparoscopic approach have been widely acknowledged. Nevertheless, concerning certain technical aspects of this method, such as the best gastrorrhaphy technique, the consensus remains elusive. Consequently, the choice tends to rely on individual surgical experiences. Our study aimed to compare interrupted stitches versus running barbed suture for laparoscopic PPU repair. Methods: We conducted a retrospective study utilizing propensity score matching analysis on patients who underwent laparoscopic PPU repair. Patients were categorised into two groups: Interrupted Stitches Suture (IStiS) and Knotless Suture (KnotS). We then compared the clinical and pathological characteristics of patients in both groups. Results: A total of 265 patients underwent laparoscopic PPU repair: 198 patients with interrupted stitches technique and 67 with barbed knotless suture. Following propensity score matching, each group (IStiS and KnotS) comprised 56 patients. The analysis revealed that operative time did not differ between groups: 87.9 ± 39.7 vs. 92.8 ± 42.6 min (p = 0.537). Postoperative morbidity (24.0% vs. 32.7%, p = 0.331) and Clavien-Dindo III (10.7% vs. 5.4%, p = 0.489) were more frequently observed in the KnotS group, without any significant difference. In contrast, we found a slightly higher mortality rate in the IStiS group (10.7% vs. 7.1%, p = 0.742). Concerning leaks, no differences emerged between groups (3.6% vs. 5.4%, p = 1.000). Conclusions: Laparoscopic PPU repair with knotless barbed sutures is a non-inferior alternative to interrupted stitches repair. Nevertheless, further research such as randomised trials, with a standardised treatment protocol according to ulcer size, are required to identify the best gastrorraphy technique.

Diverticulitis, surgery, evidence-based medicine, and the Steve Jobs' dots: a narrative review

PURPOSE

Emergency treatment of acute diverticulitis remains a hazy field. Despite a number of clinical studies, randomized controlled trials (RCTs), guidelines and surgical societies recommendations, the most critical hot topics have yet to be addressed.

METHODS

Literature research from 1963 until today was performed. Data regarding the principal RCTs and observational studies were summarized in descriptive tables. In particular we aimed to focus on the following topics: the role of laparoscopy, the acute care setting, the RCTs, guidelines, observational studies and classifications proposed by literature, the problem in case of a pandemic, and the importance of adapting treatment /place/surgeon conditions.

RESULTS

In the evaluation of these points we did not try to find any prospective evolution of the concepts achievements. On the contrary we simply report the individuals strands of research from a retrospective point of view, similarly to what Steve Jobes said: "you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future". We have finally obtained what can be defined "a narrative review of the literature on diverticulitis".

CONCLUSIONS

Not only evidence-based medicine but also the contextualization, as also the role of 'competent' surgeons, should guide to novel approach in acute diverticulitis management.

Perforated peptic ulcer (PPU) treatment: an Italian nationwide propensity score-matched cohort study investigating laparoscopic vs open approach

BACKGROUND

Perforated peptic ulcer (PPU) remain a surgical emergency accounting for 37% of all peptic ulcer-related deaths. Surgery remains the standard of care. The benefits of laparoscopic approach have been well-established even in the elderly. However, because of inconsistent results with specific regard to some technical aspects of such technique surgeons questioned the adoption of laparoscopic approach. This leads to choose the type of approach based on personal experience. The aim of our study was to critically appraise the use of the laparoscopic approach in PPU treatment comparing it with open procedure.

METHODS

A retrospective study with propensity score matching analysis of patients underwent surgical procedure for PPU was performed. Patients undergoing PPU repair were divided into: Laparoscopic approach (LapA) and Open approach (OpenA) groups and clinical-pathological features of patients in the both groups were compared.

RESULTS

A total of 453 patients underwent PPU simple repair. Among these, a LapA was adopted in 49% (222/453 patients). After propensity score matching, 172 patients were included in each group (the LapA and the OpenA). Analysis demonstrated increased operative times in the OpenA [OpenA: 96.4 ± 37.2 vs LapA 88.47 ± 33 min, p = 0.035], with shorter overall length of stay in the LapA group [OpenA 13 ± 12 vs LapA 10.3 ± 11.4 days p = 0.038]. There was no statistically significant difference in mortality [OpenA 26 (15.1%) vs LapA 18 (10.5%), p = 0.258]. Focusing on morbidity, the overall rate of 30-day postoperative morbidity was significantly lower in the LapA group [OpenA 67 patients (39.0%) vs LapA 37 patients (21.5%) p = 0.002]. When stratified using the Clavien-Dindo classification, the severity of postoperative complications was statistically different only for C-D 1-2.

CONCLUSIONS

Based on the present study, we can support that laparoscopic suturing of perforated peptic ulcers, apart from being a safe technique, could provide significant advantages in terms of postoperative complications and hospital stay.

Detection of the Frail Elderly at Risk of Postoperative Sepsis

With the increase in the elderly population, surgery in aged patients is seeing an exponential increase. In this population, sepsis is a major concern for perioperative care, especially in older and frail patients. We aim to investigate the incidence of sepsis in elderly patients receiving diverse types of surgical procedures and explore the predictive capacity of the Hospital Frailty Risk Score (HFRS) to identify patients at high risk of incidence of postoperative sepsis. This study relies on information from the Spanish Minimum Basic Data Set, including data from nearly 300 hospitals in Spain. We extracted records of 254,836 patients aged 76 years and older who underwent a series of surgical interventions within three consecutive years (2016-2018). The HFRS and Elixhauser comorbidity index were computed to determine the independent effect on the incidence of sepsis. Overall, the incidence of postoperative sepsis was 2645 (1.04%). The higher risk of sepsis was in major stomach, esophageal, and duodenal (7.62%), followed by major intestinal procedures (5.65%). Frail patients are at high risk of sepsis. HFRS demonstrated a high predictive capacity to identify patients with a risk of postoperative sepsis and can be a valid instrument for risk stratification and vigilant perioperative monitoring for the early identification of patients at high risk of sepsis.

Study and validation of an explainable machine learning-based mortality prediction following emergency surgery in the elderly: A prospective observational study

INTRODUCTION

The heterogeneity of procedures and the variety of comorbidities of the patients undergoing surgery in an emergency setting makes perioperative risk stratification, planning, and risk mitigation crucial. In this optic, Machine Learning has the capability of deriving data-driven predictions based on multivariate interactions of thousands of instances. Our aim was to cross-validate and test interpretable models for the prediction of post-operative mortality after any surgery in an emergency setting on elderly patients.

METHODS

This study is a secondary analysis derived from the FRAILESEL study, a multi-center (N = 29 emergency care units), nationwide, observational prospective study with data collected between 06-2017 and 06-2018 investigating perioperative outcomes of elderly patients (age≥65 years) undergoing emergency surgery. Demographic and clinical data, medical and surgical history, preoperative risk factors, frailty, biochemical blood examination, vital parameters, and operative details were collected and the primary outcome was set to the 30-day mortality.

RESULTS

Of the 2570 included patients (50.66% males, median age 77 [IQR = 13] years) 238 (9.26%) were in the non-survivors group. The best performing solution (MultiLayer Perceptron) resulted in a test accuracy of 94.9% (sensitivity = 92.0%, specificity = 95.2%). Model explanations showed how non-chronic cardiac-related comorbidities reduced activities of daily living, low consciousness levels, high creatinine and low saturation increase the risk of death following surgery.

CONCLUSIONS

In this prospective observational study, a robustly cross-validated model resulted in better predictive performance than existing tools and scores in literature. By using only preoperative features and by deriving patient-specific explanations, the model provides crucial information during shared decision-making processes required for risk mitigation procedures.

Gastro-intestinal emergency surgery: Evaluation of morbidity and mortality. Protocol of a prospective, multicenter study in Italy for evaluating the burden of abdominal emergency surgery in different age groups. (The GESEMM study)

Gastrointestinal emergencies (GE) are frequently encountered in emergency department (ED), and patients can present with wide-ranging symptoms. more than 3 million patients admitted to US hospitals each year for EGS diagnoses, more than the sum of all new cancer diagnoses. In addition to the complexity of the urgent surgical patient (often suffering from multiple co-morbidities), there is the unpredictability and the severity of the event. In the light of this, these patients need a rapid decision-making process that allows a correct diagnosis and an adequate and timely treatment. The primary endpoint of this Italian nationwide study is to analyze the clinicopathological findings, management strategies and short-term outcomes of gastrointestinal emergency procedures performed in patients over 18. Secondary endpoints will be to evaluate to analyze the prognostic role of existing risk-scores to define the most suitable scoring system for gastro-intestinal surgical emergency. The primary outcomes are 30-day overall postoperative morbidity and mortality rates. Secondary outcomes are 30-day postoperative morbidity and mortality rates, stratified for each procedure or cause of intervention, length of hospital stay, admission and length of stay in ICU, and place of discharge (home or rehabilitation or care facility). In conclusion, to improve the level of care that should be reserved for these patients, we aim to analyze the clinicopathological findings, management strategies and short-term outcomes of gastrointestinal emergency procedures performed in patients over 18, to analyze the prognostic role of existing risk-scores and to define new tools suitable for EGS. This process could ameliorate outcomes and avoid futile treatments. These results may potentially influence the survival of many high-risk EGS procedure.

Metabolic Syndrome (MetS), Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (SIRS), and Frailty: Is There any Room for Good Outcome in the Elderly Undergoing Emergency Surgery?

Background

Patients with MetS or SIRS experience higher rates of mortality and morbidity, across both cardiac and noncardiac surgery. Frailty assessment has acquired increasing importance in recent years as it predisposes elderly patients to a worse outcome. The aim of our study was to investigate the influence of MetS, SIRS, and with or without frailty on elderly patients undergoing emergency surgical procedures.

Methods

We analyzed data of all patients with nonmalignant diseases requiring an emergency surgical procedure from January 2017 to December 2020. The occurrence of MetS was identified using modified definition criteria used by the NCEP-ATP III Expert Panel: obesity, hypertension, diabetes, or if medication for high triglycerides or for low HDL cholesterol was taken. Systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) was evaluated according to the original consensus study (Sepsis-1). The frailty profile was investigated by the 5-modified Frailty Index (5-mFI) and the Emergency Surgery Frailty Index (EmSFI). Postoperative complications have been reported and categorized according to the Clavien-Dindo (C-D) classification system. Morbidity and mortality have been mainly considered as the 30-day standard period definition.

Results

Of the 2,318 patients included in this study, 1,010 (43.6%) fulfilled the criteria for MetS (MetsG group). Both 5-Items score and EmsFI showed greater fragility in patients with MetS. All patients with MetS showed more frequently a CACI index greater than 6. The occurrence of SIRS was higher in MetSG. LOS was longer in patients with MetS (MetSG 11.4 ± 12 days vs. n-MetSG 10.5 ± 10.2 days, p = 0.046). MetSG has a significantly higher rate of morbidity (353 (35.%) vs. 385 (29.4%), p = 0.005). The mortality rate in patients with MetS (98/1010, 10%) was similar to that in patients without it (129/1308, 10%). Considering patients with MetS who developed SIRS and those who had frailty or both, the occurrence of these conditions was associated with a higher rate of morbidity and mortality.

Conclusion

Impact of MetS and SIRS on elderly surgical patient outcomes has yet to be fully elucidated. The present study showed a 43.6% incidence of MetS in the elderly population. In conclusion, age per se should be not considered anymore as the main variable to estimate patient outcomes, while MetS and Frailty should have always a pivotal role.

Emergency hernia repair in the elderly: multivariate analysis of morbidity and mortality from an Italian registry

PURPOSE

The incidence of inguinal hernia is higher in elderly because of aging-related diseases like prostatism, bronchitis, collagen laxity. A conservative management is common in elderly to reduce surgery-related risks, however watchful waiting can expose to obstruction and strangulation. The aim of the present study was to assess the impact of emergency surgery in a large series of elderly with complicated groin hernia and to identify the independent risk factors for postoperative morbidity and mortality. The predictive performance of prognostic risk scores has been also assessed.

METHODS

This is a prospective observational study carried out between January 2017 and June 2018 in elderly patients who underwent emergency surgery for complicated hernia in 38 Italian hospitals. Pre-operative, surgical and postoperative data were recorded for each patient. ASA score, Charlson's comorbidity index, P-POSSUM and CR-POSSUM were assessed.

RESULTS

259 patients were recruited, mean age was 80 years. A direct repair without mesh was performed in 62 (23.9%) patients. Explorative laparotomy was performed in 56 (21.6%) patients and bowel resection was necessary in 44 (17%). Mortality occurred in seven (2.8%) patients. Fifty-five (21.2%) patients developed complications, 12 of whom had a major one. At univariate and multivariate analyses, Charlson's comorbidity index ≥ 6, altered mental status, and need for laparotomy were associated with major complications and mortality CONCLUSION: Emergency surgery for complicated hernia is burdened by high morbidity and mortality in elderly patients. Preoperative comorbidity played a pivotal role in predicting complications and mortality and therefore Charlson's comorbidity index could be adopted to select patients for elective operation.

Risk factors for postoperative morbidity following appendectomy in the elderly: a nationwide prospective cohort study

BACKGROUND

A limited number of studies investigating perioperative risk factors associated with emergency appendectomy in elderly patients have been published to date. Whether older age may be associated with poorer outcomes following appendectomy is still a matter of debate. The primary aim of this study was to determine the predictors of postoperative morbidity following appendectomy in patients aged ≥ 65 years.

METHODS

Data regarding all elderly patients who underwent emergency appendectomy from January 2017 to June 2018 admitted 36 Italian surgical departments were prospectively collected and analyzed. Baseline demographics and perioperative variables were evaluated. Uni- and multivariate analyses adjusted for differences between groups were carried out to determine possible predictors of adverse outcomes after appendectomy.

RESULTS

Between January 2017 and June 2018, 135 patients aged ≥ 65 years with a diagnosis of AA met the study inclusion criteria. Twenty-six patients (19.3%) were diagnosed with some type of postoperative complication. Decreasing the preoperative hemoglobin level showed a statistically significant association with postoperative complications (OR 0.77, CI 0.61-0.97, P = 0.03). Preoperative creatinine level (P = 0.02, OR 2.04, CI 1.12-3.72), and open appendectomy (P = 0.03, OR 2.67, CI 1.11-6.38) were significantly associated with postoperative morbidity. After adjustment, the only independent predictor of postoperative morbidity was preoperative creatinine level (P = 0.04, OR 2.01, CI 1.05-3.89).

CONCLUSIONS

In elderly patients with AA, perioperative risk assessment in the emergency setting must be as accurate as possible to identify modifiable risk factors that can be addressed before surgery, such as preoperative hemoglobin and creatinine levels.

The Emergency Surgery Frailty Index (EmSFI): development and internal validation of a novel simple bedside risk score for elderly patients undergoing emergency surgery

BACKGROUND

Frailty assessment has acquired an increasing importance in recent years and it has been demonstrated that this vulnerable profile predisposes elderly patients to a worse outcome after surgery. Therefore, it becomes paramount to perform an accurate stratification of surgical risk in elderly undergoing emergency surgery.

STUDY DESIGN

1024 patients older than 65 years who required urgent surgical procedures were prospectively recruited from 38 Italian centers participating to the multicentric FRAILESEL (Frailty and Emergency Surgery in the Elderly) study, between December 2016 and May 2017. A univariate analysis was carried out, with the purpose of developing a frailty index in emergency surgery called "EmSFI". Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis was then performed to test the accuracy of our predictive score.

RESULTS

784 elderly patients were consecutively enrolled, constituting the development set and results were validated considering further 240 consecutive patients undergoing colorectal surgical procedures. A logistic regression analysis was performed identifying different EmSFI risk classes. The model exhibited good accuracy as regard to mortality for both the development set (AUC = 0.731 [95% CI 0.654-0.772]; HL test χ² = 6.780; p = 0.238) and the validation set (AUC = 0.762 [95% CI 0.682-0.842]; HL test χ² = 7.238; p = 0.299). As concern morbidity, our model showed a moderate accuracy in the development group, whereas a poor discrimination ability was observed in the validation cohort.

CONCLUSIONS

The validated EmSFI represents a reliable and time-sparing tool, despite its discriminative value decreased regarding complications. Thus, further studies are needed to investigate specifically surgical settings, validating the EmSFI prognostic role in assessing the procedure-related morbidity risk.

Clinical-pathological features and treatment of acute appendicitis in the very elderly: an interim analysis of the FRAILESEL Italian multicentre prospective study

BACKGROUND

Emergency abdominal surgery in the elderly represents a global issue. Diagnosis of AA in old patients is often more difficult. Appendectomy remains the gold standard of treatment and, even though it is performed almost exclusively with a minimally invasive technique, it can still represent a great risk for the elderly patient, especially above 80 years of age. A careful selection of elderly patients to be directed to surgery is, therefore, fundamental. The primary aim was to critically appraise and compare the clinical-pathological characteristics and the outcomes between oldest old (≥ 80 years) and elderly (65-79 years) patients with Acute Appendicitis (AA).

METHODS

The FRAILESEL is a large, nationwide, multicentre, prospective study investigating the perioperative outcomes of patients aged ≥ 65 years who underwent emergency abdominal surgery. Particular focus has been directed to the clinical and biochemical presentation as well as to the need for operative procedures, type of surgical approach, morbidity and mortality, and in-hospital length of stay. Two multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to assess perioperative risk factors for morbidity and mortality.

RESULTS

182 patients fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Mean age, ileocecal resection, OAD and ASA score ≥ 3 were related with both overall and major complication. The multivariate analysis showed that MPI and complicated appendicitis were independent factors associated with overall complications. OAD and ASA scores ≥ 3 were independent factors for both overall and major complications.

CONCLUSIONS

Age ≥ 80 years is not an independent risk factor for morbidities. POCUS is safe and effective for the diagnosis; however, a CECT is often needed. Having the oldest old a smaller functional organ reserve, an earlier intervention should be considered especially because they often show a delay in presentation and frequently exhibit a complicated appendicitis.

Emergency Surgery in the Elderly: Could Laparoscopy Be Useful in Frailty? A Single-Center Prospective 2-Year Follow-Up in 120 Consecutive Patients

Background: the general population is aging across the world. Therefore, even surgical interventions in the elderly—in particular those involving emergency surgical admissions—are becoming more frequent. The elderly population is often frail (in multiple physiological systems, this is often defined as age-related cumulative decline). This study involved a 2-year follow-up evaluation of frail elderly patients treated with urgent surgical intervention at Santa Maria Regina della Misericordia Hospital, General Surgery Department, in Adria (Italy). Method: a prospective, single-center, 2-year follow-up study of 120 patients >65 years old, treated at our department for surgical abdominal emergencies. We considered co-morbidities (ASA—American Society of Anesthesiologists Physical Status Classification System—score), type of surgery (laparoscopy, laparotomy or converted), frailty score, mortality, and complications at 30 days and at 2 years. Conclusions: 70 (58.4%) patients had laparoscopy, 49 (40.8) had laparotomy, and in 1 (0.8%) case, surgery was converted from laparoscopy to laparotomy. Mortality strictly depends on the type of surgery (laparotomy vs. laparoscopy), complications during recovery, and a lower Fried frailty criteria score, on average. The long-term follow-up can be a useful tool to highlight a safer surgical approach, such as laparoscopy, in frail elderly patients. We consider the laparoscopic approach feasible in emergency situations, with similar or better outcomes than laparotomy, especially in frail elderly patients.

Preoperative Assessment of Geriatric Surgical Patients: Update on Clinical Scales Used for Elective General and Digestive Surgery

BACKGROUND

Higher life expectancy in the general population entails a growing interest in the surgical management of diseases affecting elderly patients. Preoperative assessment when planning surgery needs to carefully evaluate physical and functional status of the patient. This review aims to describe the most commonly used scales in the evaluation of elderly patients scheduled for surgery and provides a useful tool to decide the scales that would be better to assess these specific patients.

METHODS

According to the PRISMA statement of publications published, we have carried out a systematic review focused on elderly patients who underwent surgical procedures in General and Surgery. Using Medline, Embase, and Cochrane library, a systematic search of the literature from 1992 to 2018 was performed. This enabled us to retrieve information from the selected articles on scales to evaluate medical fitness, functional status, or both, in the elderly or frail patients.

RESULTS

We reviewed 102 articles and selected the most frequently used assessment scales or indexes. After this extensive analysis, we selected 4 functional scales (Katz Index, Barthel Scale, Karnofsky Performance Score, and Vulnerable Elders Survey), 4 clinical scales (American Society of Anaesthesiologists Index, Charlson Comorbidity Index, Pfeiffer Test, and Physiological and Operative Severity Score for the enumeration of Mortality and Morbidity Scale) and finally, 2 mixed scales (American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program Surgical Risk Calculator and Edmonton Frail Scale).

CONCLUSIONS

No consensus on the use of a unified assessment scale for elderly patients exists. However, with this review, we provide a brief guideline about the most useful and used scales to perform a comprehensive assessment of geriatric patients undergoing surgery.

Comprehensive geriatric assessment: Influence on clinical results after colorectal surgery in advanced age patients

INTRODUCTION

The objective of this work was to analyse the postoperative clinical results of patients surgically treated for colorectal cancer in relation to the results of the preoperative comprehensive geriatric evaluation.

METHODS

Observational study in which postoperative morbidity and mortality at 30 and 90 days were analysed in a cohort of patients surgically treated for colorectal cancer according to age groups: group 1) between 75 and 79 years old; group 2) between 80 and 84 years old, and group 3) ≥85 years old. In addition to the anaesthetic risk assessment, patients were assessed with the Karnofsky, Barthel and Pfeiffer indexes. Mortality at 30 and 90 days after surgery was analysed in relation to the results of the comprehensive evaluation.

RESULTS

A total of 227 patients with colorectal cancer were included in the study period: 91 in group 1, 89 in group 2 and 47 in group 3. There were statistically significant differences in mortality at 30 days (p=0,029) but not at 90 days after surgery, according to age groups. Mortality at 90 days was significantly higher in patients with worse scores on the Karnofsky and Barthel scales.

CONCLUSIONS

Comprehensive geriatric assessment using different scales is a good tool to assess postoperative mortality in the mid-term postoperative period.

Laparoscopic Repair of Perforated Peptic Ulcer in the Elderly: An Interim Analysis of the FRAILESEL Italian Multicenter Prospective Cohort Study

INTRODUCTION

The number of elderly patients requiring emergency surgical intervention has increased dramatically. Perforated peptic ulcer (PPU) complications, such as perforation, have remained relatively stable and associated morbidity remains between 10% and 20%. Advances in perioperative care have greatly improved the outcomes of laparoscopic emergency surgery, allowing increasing numbers of patients, even the elderly, to undergo safe repair. The aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility, safety, and outcome of laparoscopic gastric repair in the elderly using the database of the FRAILESEL (Frailty and Emergency Surgery in the Elderly) study.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

This is a retrospective analysis carried out on data of the FRAILESEL study. Data on all the elderly patients who underwent emergency abdominal surgery for PPU from January 2017 to December 2017 at 36 Italian surgical departments were analyzed. Patients who underwent PPU repair were further divided into a laparoscopic gastroduodenal repair (LGR) cohort and an open gastroduodenal repair (OGR) cohort, and the clinicopathologic features of the patients in both the groups were compared.

RESULTS

Sixty-seven patients fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Thirty-three patients (47.8%) underwent LGR. The LGR patients had less blood loss and shorter postoperative stay, even if the difference was not statistically significant. The mean operative time was significantively higher in the OGR (OGR 96.5±27.7 vs. LGR 78.6±16.3 P=0.000). The rate of death after laparoscopic surgery was similar to the rate of the open surgery. Multivariate analysis indicated that only age (P=0.018), admission haemoblogbin (Hb) level (P=0.006), platelet count (P=0.16), lactate level (P=0.47), and Mannheim Peritonitis Index (P=0.18) were independent variables associated with the risk of overall mortality.

CONCLUSIONS

LGR is safe and feasible in elderly patients with PPU and it is associated with better perioperative outcomes. However, patient selection and preoperative frailty evaluation in the elderly population are the key to achieving better outcomes.

The use of emergency laparoscopy for acute abdomen in the elderly: the FRAILESEL Italian Multicenter Prospective Cohort Study

As the world population is aging rapidly, emergency abdominal surgery for acute abdomen in the elderly represents a global issue, both in developed and developing countries. Data regarding all the elderly patients who underwent emergency abdominal surgery from January 2017 to December 2017 at 36 Italian surgical departments were analyzed with the aim to appraise the contemporary reality regarding the use of emergency laparoscopy for acute abdomen in the elderly. 1993 patients were enrolled. 1369 (68.7%) patients were operated with an open technique; whereas, 624 (31.3%) underwent a laparoscopic operation. The postoperative morbidity rate was 32.6%, with a statically significant difference between the open and the laparoscopic groups (36.2% versus 22.1%, p < 0.001). The reported mortality rate was 8.8%, with a statistically significant difference between the open and the laparoscopic groups (11.2% versus 2.2%, p < 0.001). Our results demonstrated that patients in the ASA II (58.1%), ASA III (68.7%) and ASA IV (88.5%) groups were operated with the traditional open technique in most of the cases. Only a small percentage of patients underwent laparoscopy for perforated gastro-duodenal ulcer repair (18.9%), adhesiolyses with/without small bowel resection (12.2%), and large bowel resection (10.7%). Conversion to open technique was associated with a higher mortality rate (11.1% versus 2.2%, p < 0.001) and overall morbidity (38.9% versus 22.1%, p = 0.001) compared with patients who did not undergo conversion. High creatinine (p < 0.001) and glycaemia (p = 0.006) levels, low hemoglobin levels (p < 0.001), oral anticoagulation therapy (p = 0.001), acute respiratory failure (p < 0.001), presence of malignancy (p = 0.001), SIRS (p < 0.001) and open surgical approach (p < 0.001) were associated with an increased risk of postoperative morbidity. Regardless of technical progress, elderly patients undergoing emergency surgery are at very high risk for in-hospital complications. A detailed analysis of complications and mortality in the present study showed that almost 9% of elderly patients died after surgery for acute abdomen, and over 32% developed complications.