Procedure Risk Tied to Outcomes in Older Emergency General Surgery Patients
By Lori Solomon HealthDay Reporter
WEDNESDAY, May 8, 2024 -- Procedure risk is more strongly associated with outcomes in older patients undergoing emergency general surgery than assessing frailty, according to a study published online April 25 in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons.
Bishoy Zakhary, M.P.H., from Riverside University Health System in Moreno Valley, California, and colleagues examined the association between procedure risk and outcomes in 59,633 older emergency general surgery patients (older than 65 years of age; 2018 to 2020).
The researchers found that frailty and procedure risk were associated with increased mortality, complications, failure to rescue, and readmissions. Compared with stratification by frailty alone, differences in outcomes were greater when patients were stratified according to procedure risk. Procedure risk had a stronger association with relevant outcomes in elderly emergency general surgery patients compared with frailty.
"What we also learned in this study is that a very significant number of elderly patients are coming to the emergency room for a major operation, urgently. And the reason is because elderly patients may not seek surgical care early on, and surgeons often shy away from solving the problems electively," coauthor Raul Coimbra, M.D., Ph.D., also from the Riverside University Health System, said in a statement. "The problem is that diseases don't disappear. They stay and progress and advance until these patients end up in the emergency department requiring an emergency operation."
Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.
© 2024 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Posted May 2024
Read this next
BMI Cutoff of 30 for Obesity May Be Too High for Middle-Aged, Older Adults
FRIDAY, May 31, 2024 -- The optimal body mass index (BMI) cutoff point appears to be 27 kg/m2 for detecting obesity in middle-aged and older adults, according to a study presented...
Emergency Inguinal Hernia Surgery Rates Increased With Lower Country Income
FRIDAY, May 31, 2024 -- For patients undergoing inguinal hernia surgery, emergency surgery rates increase from high- to low-income countries, according to a study published online...
Maternal Serum Alpha-Fetoprotein Levels Higher in Black Than White Women
FRIDAY, May 31, 2024 -- Maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) levels are higher in Black than White pregnant women, supporting the use of accounting for these differences in...
More news resources
- FDA Medwatch Drug Alerts
- Daily MedNews
- News for Health Professionals
- New Drug Approvals
- New Drug Applications
- Drug Shortages
- Clinical Trial Results
- Generic Drug Approvals
Subscribe to our newsletter
Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.