For patients age 65 and over, a history of one or more falls in the six months before an operation predicts more than twice the risk of postoperative complications observed in geriatric patients without a history of falls, according to an article published in JAMA Surgery.
Researchers followed 235 geriatric surgery patients, one-third of which had a six-month history of one or more falls.
Patients without a history of falls had complication rates of 25 percent for colorectal surgery and 15 percent for cardiac surgery, while patients with a history of falls had a 59 percent colorectal surgery complication rate and a 39 percent cardiac surgery complication rate.
In addition, patients with a history of falls were more often discharged to institutional care facilities and were more often readmitted to a hospital within 30 days of discharge. Findings were independent of advancing age.
Researchers recommended history of preoperative falls be considered for inclusion in a preoperative assessment, given the costs associated with post-surgical complications, institutional care and readmissions, and given that one-third of inpatient surgeries are performed on geriatric patients, a number which will likely increase in coming years.
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