Abdominal surgery higher risk in elderly

SEATTLE, Dec. 23 (UPI) -- Older adults may have a higher risk of complications and death after abdominal surgery, U.S. researchers found.

Dr. Nader N. Massarweh and colleagues at University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, examined complication and death rates of 101,318 adults age 65 or older who underwent common abdominal procedures such as gall bladder removal, hysterectomy and colectomy from 1987-2004. Complications were recorded within 90 days of discharge and deaths were recorded within 90 days of hospital admission.

The study, published in the Archives of Surgery, found advancing age was associated with increasing frequency of complications -- ages 65-69 had a 14.6 percent complication rate, while those age 90 and older had a 22.7 percent complication rate, Massarweh said.

The death rate following surgery was 2.5 percent for those ages 65-69 to 12.6 percent for those age 90 and older, the study said.

"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," Massarweh said in a statement.