Post-operative outcomes in the elderly following colorectal cancer surgery

Background Despite the prevalence of colorectal cancer in the elderly, there has been a lack of recent studies examining surgical outcomes in these patients. Post-operative outcomes of colorectal cancer surgeries in those aged 80 and above will be compared to those younger than 80. Methods A retrospective study was conducted of adults receiving surgical resections at a single tertiary centre for colorectal cancer diagnosed between January 2017 and December 2019. Patient demographics, mode of presentation, tumour demographics, operative data and post-operative outcomes were investigated. Results Of the 326 patients included, 56 were aged 80 and above. Older patients were more likely to be female (P= 0.02), present with surgical emergencies or from other workup rather than through screening (P= 0.002), have more locally advanced cancers (P= 0.009) and receive less neoadjuvant therapy (P= 0.016). Despite this, they had comparable outcomes to those younger than 80 in terms of length of stay (P= 0.21) and rates of complications including mortality (P= 0.67). Conclusion With appropriate patient selection and management, elderly patients can achieve comparable post-operative outcomes to their younger counterparts.

Automated summary

Despite differences in patient demographics and cancer characteristics, elderly patients aged 80 and above with colorectal cancer had comparable post-operative outcomes in terms of length of stay and rates of complications, including mortality, to those younger than 80.