The older the patient, the greater the risk of complications and death after abdominal surgery, according to a new study that shows common procedures to be riskier for elderly patients than previously reported.

Researchers at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle studied 101,318 patients aged 65 years or older who underwent such common abdominal surgeries as cholecystectomy, colectomy and hysterectomy between 1987 and 2004. Ninety days after surgery, the rate of complications among this patient population was 17.3%, and the rate of death was 5.4%. Full results are published in the December 2009 issue of Archives of Surgery.

Both the morbidity and mortality rates increased with advanced age. For example, the complication rate was 14.6% among patients aged 65 to 69, but 22.6% among patients aged 80 to 84. Similarly, the mortality rate was 2.5% for patients in their late 60s, but 12.6% for those in their late 80s.

"After adjusting for demographic, patient and surgical characteristics as well as hospital volume, the odds of early post-operative death increased considerably with each advance in age category," write the authors. "These rates should be considered in ongoing quality improvement initiatives and may be helpful when counseling patients regarding abdominal operations."

Irene Tsikitas