Scoping review of frailty in vascular surgery

This review sought to describe the current state of knowledge of the impact of frailty on perioperative clinical outcomes in patients undergoing vascular interventions.

A scoping review of the literature from both PubMed and Ovid Embase databases was conducted to identify relevant English- and French-language articles published from inception to May 31, 2018. Patients undergoing vascular surgery interventions were included.

Twenty-three studies have addressed the prevalence or prognostic impact of frailty in patients undergoing vascular surgery procedures. The prevalence of frailty ranged from 20% to 60%, and notably 14 different frailty assessments were used in these studies. Frailty was associated with increased comorbid status, prolonged length of stay, discharge to assisted living facility, loss of independence, postoperative morbidity, and all-cause mortality.

There are a variety of heterogeneous tools to measure frailty in patients undergoing vascular surgery interventions. The prevalence of frailty varies by the scale used to measure it, as does its predictive value. Clinicians and surgeons should be sensitized to the importance of assessing frailty preoperatively in older adults undergoing vascular surgery and using it to assist in the decision-making process and allocation of surgical resources.