Multimodal perioperative rehabilitation for colonic surgery in the elderly

Traditional perioperative care for colonic surgery in elderly patients is associated with increased morbidity and mortality compared to that of younger patients. Although multimodal perioperative rehabilitation has evolved as a valid concept to improve postoperative outcome, its use has not yet been established for colonic surgery in the elderly.

Data from 24 German hospitals performing multimodal perioperative rehabilitation as the standard perioperative care for elderly patients who have undergone elective colonic resection was assessed in a prospective multicenter study between April 2005 and April 2007.

A total of 742 patients aged > or = 70 were examined. Overall compliance with the multimodal care protocol decreased with increasing age. Although laparoscopic colonic surgery was performed in 39.1% of the septuagenarians, the number decreased to 25.1% in the very old patients. The overall complication rate was 22.9% in the septuagenarians (18.1% surgical and 11.6% general complications) and increased in the very old patients to 38.4% (28.0% and 23.6%, respectively) The overall mortality rate was 1.0% and showed no age-specific variations.

Although the overall morbidity did increase with age, it was still less when compared to that of historical groups with traditional care. Therefore, multimodal perioperative rehabilitation should be recommended for the elderly.