Patients' frailty and co-morbidities do not affect short-term mortality following emergency colorectal cancer surgery

To investigate the effects of frailty and co-morbidities on short and medium-term outcome following emergency colorectal cancer surgery.

Data of patients who underwent emergency colorectal cancer operations between January 2013 and December 2016 were reviewed retrospectively. Collected data included demographic and operative variables, clinical frailty scale (CFS), Charlson comorbidity index (CCI) and cause of death with minimum 3 years follow-up.

Three-hundred and six patients (median age 72, range 18-100 years) underwent emergency colorectal cancer surgery; Some 74 (24.2%) patients had metastatic cancer at the time of emergency surgery, 77 (25.2%) were frail (CFS ≥4), while 118 (38.6%) were comorbid (CCI of ≥8). Thirty-day mortality was 4.2% (13 patients) and a further 12 patients died within 90 days (8.2%). By 1 year 73 (23.9%) patients had died, and by 3 years 151 (49.3%) patients died. Frailty did not impact 30-day mortality (6.5% vs 3.5%, p = 0.26) but frail patients (CFS ≥4) had a higher mortality rate at 90 days (16.9% vs 5.2%, p < 0.05), 1 year (37.7% vs 19.2%, p < 0.05) and 3 years (61.0% vs 45.4%, p < 0.05). Similarly, higher comorbidity (CCI ≥8) did not impact 30-day mortality (5.9% vs 3.2%, p = 0.25), but they had a higher mortality rate at 90 days (14.4% vs 4.3%, p < 0.05), 1 year (40.7% vs 13.3%, p < 0.05), and 3 years (76.3% vs 32.4%, p < 0.05).

Thirty-day mortality after emergency colorectal cancer surgery in frail and comorbid patients are similar to that of the general population.