Is frailty associated with greater risks of postoperative mortality and morbidity in older adults undergoing emergency laparotomy?
Frailty is present in 20% of older adults undergoing emergency laparotomy and independently predicts postoperative mortality and morbidity.
A fifth of older adults undergoing emergency laparotomy are frail. The presence of frailty is associated with greater risks of postoperative mortality and morbidity and is independent of age. Frailty scoring should be integrated into acute surgical assessment practice to aid decision-making and development of novel postoperative strategies.
Parmar et al. (2019) studied this question.