Publication:

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.