Impact of age on perioperative outcome in patients scheduled for lower limb trauma surgery under central neuraxial blockade

Background: The aim of the study was to compare perioperative outcomes between young and elderly trauma patients scheduled for lower limb corrective surgeries in our hospital under central neuraxial blockade. Methods: The study was conducted in Max Superspeciality Hospital, Mohali for a period of 1 year, November 2017 to November 2018 after approval from the Institutional Ethics Committee and review board and written informed consent from the patients. Sixty patients having American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) I-III physical status scheduled to undergo lower limb trauma surgery were divided into 2 groups as ‘young’ (≤65 years, group Y) or ‘elderly’ (≥65 years, group E). Results: The mean age of patients in group Y was 39.67±12.73 years while the mean age of patients in group E was 74.37±6.13 years. The post-operative pain score i.e. visual analogue scores (VAS) were lower inpatients in group Y as compared to group E. This difference in pain scores was found to be statistically significant especially from 8th hour onwards. Injury severity score (ISS) and pre-existing comorbidities [hypertension, renal failure and coronary artery disease (CAD)] were significant risk factors for mortality in group E patients. Conclusions: The elderly are more likely to develop adverse perioperative outcomes and are relatively less able to recover from the same.