The effect of age on short-term postoperative complications following arthroscopic rotator cuff repair

The purpose of this study was to assess short-term outcomes, including the rates of medical complications, non-home discharge, overnight hospital stay, and 30-day readmission, associated with patient age at the time of rotator cuff repair.

This study used National Surgical Quality Improvement Program data from 2005 to 2016 to analyze patients who underwent arthroscopic rotator cuff repair (ARCR). Patients were stratified into age cohorts of younger than 55 years, between 55 and 65 years, or older than 65 years. Outcomes including postoperative complications, discharge destination, and readmission were compared between the age cohorts using multivariate analysis.

We identified 23,974 patients undergoing ARCR: 8344 patients (34.8%) were younger than 55 years, 9166 (38.4%) were aged between 55 and 65 years, and 6434 (26.8%) were older than 65 years. Older patients were more likely to be female patients and to have a lower body mass index, more medical comorbidities, shorter operative duration, dependent functional status, and higher American Society of Anesthesiologists classification. Patients older than 65 years had a higher rate of total complications (odds ratio [OR], 1.99; P = .003), respiratory complications (OR, 2.99; P = .023), urinary tract infections (OR, 6.94; P < .001), overnight hospital stay (OR, 1.49; P < .001), and unplanned hospital readmission (OR, 1.50; P = .040) relative to patients younger than 55 years. There was no increase in complication rates for patients aged between 55 and 65 years.

Patients older than 65 years have nearly double the odds of having a postoperative complication following ARCR and nearly 3 and 6 times the odds of having a respiratory complication and a urinary tract complication, respectively. Thorough preoperative optimization, including respiratory and urinary care, may be able to decrease complications in select, high-risk patients.