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Erschienen in:
22.04.2019 | Original Article
Super-elderly patient-specific perioperative complications in breast cancer surgery
Erschienen in: Surgery Today | Ausgabe 10/2019
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Purpose
Geriatric surgery poses specific challenges due to patient vulnerability in relation to aging. We analyzed perioperative challenges concerning super-elderly patients with breast cancer.
Methods
Between 2013 and 2018, 908 patients with breast cancer were treated surgically. Of these, two patient groups were compared: Group A (≥ 85 years old, n = 34, 3.7%) and Group B (75–84 years old, n = 136, 15%).
Results
In Groups A and B, 26.4% and 36.8% of patients lived alone, respectively. Group A patients had higher rates of psychiatric and cardiovascular disease (32.4% and 41.2%) than Group B (8.8% and 16.2%) (p = 0.0009 and p = 0.0031, respectively). There was no marked difference in the type of surgery or length of hospital stay between groups, and most complications involved surgical site disorders. Postoperatively, Group A had a higher rate of delirium (29.4%) than Group B (3.7%) (p < 0.0001). The 30-day postoperative mortality rate was 0, and 76.5% of Group A and 45.6% of Group B patients received no adjuvant therapy (p = 0.0024).
Conclusions
Age alone does not constitute a contraindication for appropriate surgery, although there are some challenges necessary to consider for super-elderly patients.