Preoperative shock index in major abdominal emergency surgery

Functional Outcomes after Abdominal Surgery in Older Adults - How concerned are we about this?

Amidst trends of a rapidly ageing population with better surgical outcomes for geriatric patients, it is imperative to consider outcome measures beyond mortality and morbidity rates. In fact, the preservation of one's postoperative function has been cited as a key priority for older adults and is a crucial determinant of postoperative independence and survival. This review aims to examine the prevalence of perioperative function reporting amongst older surgical patients undergoing elective major abdominal surgery for cancer. We systematically reviewed studies from inception to December 2023 for studies which focused on the outcomes of older surgical patients undergoing elective major abdominal surgery for cancer. Relevant citations were screened (title, abstract and full article review) based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria. 103 studies were included, of which only 31 studies consisting of 20885 participants reported perioperative function. While the nominal number of studies which report perioperative function has been on a steady rise since 2018, the proportion of studies which do so remains low. Postoperative function is three times less likely to be reported than preoperative function, suggesting that functional recovery is not sufficiently assessed. This suggests that there is still a poor uptake of functional recovery as an outcome measure amongst surgeons, and any increase in perioperative function reporting is likely due to the increased administration of frailty assessments. These findings should urge greater efforts in quantifying and enabling functional recovery to improve the clinical outcomes and quality of care for older surgical patients.

Shock index: Easy to use, but can it predict outcomes following major abdominal emergency surgery?

Major abdominal emergency surgery (MAES) is commonly performed for various potentially life-threatening intra-abdominal surgical conditions with high perioperative mortality of up to 45%.1 Certain patient factors (e.g. advanced age, frailty, and presence of multiple comorbidities) and disease factors (e.g. perforated viscus and intra-abdominal sepsis) have been shown to predict higher post-operative complications and mortality following MAES.2 Pre-operative risk stratification scores, such as the Portsmouth-Physiological and Operative Severity Score for the Enumeration of Mortality and Morbidity (P-POSSUM) and National Emergency Laparotomy Audit (NELA) score, have also been developed to assist clinicians and/or surgeons in decision making and patient counselling. While these scoring systems have been widely studied and validated in patients of various demographics,3 they require input of multiple variables which may be cumbersome, especially in the emergency setting. Simple bedside scoring systems remain attractive for quick risk stratification and guidance of subsequent management.