Age is relative when considering surgical intervention
Age alone should not determine surgical risk in a person aged 80 or over, according to a McGill University Health Science Center trend study, in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ).
The study finds an increase in coronary artery bypass grafts (CABGs) and percutaneous coronary interventions (PCIs) with better results in people previously believed to be too old for these procedures.
Commenting on the study, Dr Mark Katlic, an American thoracic surgeon and geriatric surgery specialist, said that physiologic age can be very different from chronologic age.
“I’ve seen 95-year-old patients who are in far better health than patients 20 years younger,” he said.
“In these patients, a surgical intervention (that is indicated) will almost always improve and not diminish – quality of life.”
As baby boomers bend life expectancy curves, an increasing number of them will be considering aggressive surgical procedures in their advanced years.
“We need a simple and reliable test, to help elderly patients and their doctors better estimate the risk of undergoing a surgical procedure.”
Dr Katlic suggests that appropriate surgical intervention in the elderly usually decreases medical costs. He said that despite related co-morbidities, such as diabetes, the intervention generally reduces condition-specific hospital admissions and readmissions.
“This is a topic that demands more research,” he noted.
