Major surgery in the elderly--a study of outcome in 295 consecutive cases

The results of major surgery in 295 consecutive patients over the age of sixty years were analysed. In this series, 70% were electives and 30% emergency cases with a male preponderance of 3:2. The overall mortality was 11.2%. Mortality following emergency operations was three times more than electives. Seventy percent (70%) of deaths after elective surgery followed palliative operations for advanced cancer. For elective surgery, complications of peptic ulcers were associated with a high mortality rate whereas deaths were fairly uniform in the emergency group. In general, concomitant medical diseases and postoperative complications were the major determinants of outcome of surgery in the elderly.