Yibo Li, Jenelle L. Pederson, Thomas A. Churchill, Adrian S. Wagg, Jayna M. Holroyd-Leduc, Kannayiram Alagiakrishnan, Raj S. Padwal and Rachel G. Khadaroo
CMAJ February 20, 2018 190 (7) E184-E190;
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.161403
Identifying frailty in surgical patients will help to predict which patients are at high risk of adverse outcomes, thus improving patient and family discussions and targeting patients for enhanced postoperative care. Moreover, the results of this study suggest that poor postoperative prognosis is not limited to the most severely frail patients, but that vulnerable patients without evident disability are also at higher risk of readmission or death after discharge. Further studies are needed to assess the impact and feasibility of interventions in terms of changing frailty status or decreasing risks among frail surgical patients, but current evidence supports the use of well-validated frailty assessments when evaluating risk for adverse postoperative outcomes.