Differences in Outcomes After Anesthesia-Related Adverse Events in Older and Younger Patients

Because more older adults undergo surgical procedures, it is incumbent on us to learn how to provide them with the safest possible perioperative care. We conducted a retrospective cohort study at a large tertiary care center to determine whether outcomes after anesthesia-related adverse events differed between patients aged 65 years and older versus patients under age 65. One thousand four hundred twenty-four cases were referred to the Performance Improvement committee of the Department of Anesthesiology from the years 2007-2015. After exclusions of cases that were not anesthesia-related, could not be identified, or were duplicates, 747 cases with anesthesia-related adverse events were included in the study. Two hundred eighty-six were aged 65 years and older and 461 were under age 65. Anesthesia-related adverse events occurred more commonly in the postoperative period in older patients relative to younger patients (37.7% vs. 21.9%, p = .001), and older patients had a greater incidence of mortality compared with a propensity-matched group of younger patients (adjusted odds ratio 1.87 [1.14-3.12], p < .05). We concluded that older patients have a greater likelihood of mortality as a result of suffering an anesthesia-related adverse event and may benefit from increased vigilance in the postoperative period.