Effect of Oral Frailty on Postoperative Infection in Patients Undergoing Abdominal Visceral Surgery

To assess effects of the oral frailty index-8 (OFI-8) on the incidence of postoperative infection.

This retrospective study included patients aged ≥ 65 years who underwent elective abdominal visceral surgery under general anaesthesia. Oral frailty was assessed using OFI-8 (total score, 0-11), with higher scores indicating poorer oral health. The primary outcome measure was incidence of postoperative infection. The association between incidence of postoperative infection and OFI-8 score was evaluated using multiple logistic regression analysis adjusted for clinically relevant preoperative and intraoperative covariates.

Data of 791 patients (mean age, 74 years; mean OFI-8 score, 3.4) were analysed. The OFI-8 score had a linear association (P for nonlinear effect on postoperative infection = 0.43) with a composite postoperative infection at a rate of 14.2% (95% confidence interval: 11.8-16.7). The adjusted odds ratio of the OFI-8 score for the primary outcome was 1.10 (95% confidence interval: 1.00-1.21), indicating that patients with higher OFI-8 scores tended to have postoperative infections.

This study's findings suggest that patients with higher OFI-8 scores were more likely to develop postoperative infection after undergoing elective abdominal visceral surgery.