Acute abdominal disease in the elderly: experience from two series in Stockholm

Two series from greater Stockholm consisting of 726 (1960 to 1968) and 1,000 (1977 to 1978) patients over age 70 years with acute abdominal complaints are presented. Almost two thirds were women. Acute cholecystitis dominated both series, but its incidence decreased from 40.8 to 26 percent in the later series. The incidence of malignant disease increased from 3 to 13.2 percent. About one third of the patients were operated on; 50 percent had postoperative complications. Some frequently occurring aberrations of the usual symptoms and signs in acute appendicitis, ileus, and perforated gastric duodenal ulcer are discussed. The overall therapeutic results improved, as judged by postoperative mortality (series I, 23.1; series II, 16 percent) and mortality associated with individual diseases (except for acute pancreatitis). However, total mortality only decreased from 14 to 11.3 percent due to the large number of malignant diseases in series II, which were associated with a mortality of 37.9 percent. In series II the median duration of stay was 10.5 days and 75 percent of the patients were discharged home.