Factors determining postoperative duration of hospitalisation in geriatric patients undergone minor surgery

The aging population increasing throughout the world makes anesthesiologists face various problems related to geriatric patients. The aim of this study was to investigate the factors associated with the postoperative outcomes, the decision on hospital stay and duration of postoperative hospital stay after minor surgeries in geriatric patients. After obtaining Institutional Ethical Board approval, we enrolled 99 patients aged above 65 years old between ASA 1-3 who underwent minor surgeries. We applied Barthel Score test, Mini mental score test and frailty score test to all patients prior to surgery. We also obtained clinical parameters including age, comorbidities, polipharmacy, unexpected weight loss, as well as, hematocrit and albumin levels pertaining to frailty assessment. These clinical data and the scores were evaluated in terms of their relationship with the decision of hospital stay and the lenght of this stay after surgical procedures. We use Kolmogorov-Smirnov, Levene ve One-Way ANOVA test for statistical analysis. Results of this study showed that pre-frail ( Frailty score 4-5) patiens had prolonged length of stay after surgical procedures. ASA score was found as an independent factor associated with lenght of stay. In addition, albumin levels in patients who needed intensive care unit stay after surgeries,were found significantly lower than that ofthe ones who did not. In conclusion, we suggest that frailty assessment should be routinely performed for the geriatric patients prior to the minor surgeries, as well as, the major ones. Keywords: Geriatric Patients, Anaesthesia, Frailty