Frailty and outcomes after craniotomy for brain tumor

Frailty has been associated with increased morbidity and mortality in a variety of surgical disciplines. Few data exist regarding the relationship of frailty with adverse outcomes in craniotomy for brain tumor resection. We assessed the relationship between frailty and the incidence of major post-operative complication, discharge destination other than home, 30-day readmission, and 30-day mortality after elective craniotomy for brain tumor resection. A retrospective cohort study was conducted on 20,333 adult patients undergoing elective craniotomy for tumor resection in the 2012-2018 ACS-NSQIP Participant Use File. Multivariate logistic regression was performed using all covariates deemed eligible through clinical and statistical significance. 6,249 patients (30.7%) were low-frailty and 2,148 patients (10.6%) were medium-to-high frailty. In multivariate logistic regression adjusting for age, gender, BMI, ASA classification, smoking status, dyspnea, significant pre-operative weight loss, chronic steroid use, bleeding disorder, tumor type, and operative time, low frailty was associated with increased adjusted odds ratio of major complication (1.41, 95% CI: 1.23-1.60, p < 0.001), discharge destination other than home (1.32, 95% CI: 1.20-1.46, p < 0.001), 30-day readmission (1.29, 95% CI: 1.15-1.44, p < 0.001), and 30-day mortality (1.87, 95% CI: 1.41-2.47, p < 0.001). Moderate-to-high frailty was also associated with increased adjusted odds of major complication (1.61, 95% CI: 1.35-1.92, p < 0.001), discharge destination other than home (1.80, 95% CI: 1.58-2.05), 30-day readmission (1.39, 95% CI: 1.19-1.62, p < 0.001), and 30-day mortality (2.42, 95% CI: 1.74-3.38, p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Frailty is associated with increased odds of major post-operative complication, discharge to destination other than home, 30-day readmission, and 30-day mortality.