Is gynaecological laparoscopic surgery safe for elderly women? A comparison study

Safety and efficacy of transvaginal natural orifice endoscopic surgery (vNOTES) for gynecologic procedures in the elderly: A case series of 119 consecutive patients

INTRODUCTION

This study evaluates the feasibility and safety of Transvaginal Natural Orifice Transluminal Endoscopic Surgery (vNOTES) in patients aged ≥ 65, focusing on early surgical outcomes for benign and malignant gynecological conditions.

METHODS

A total of 119 patients aged 65 and older who underwent vNOTES procedures at Valais Hospital from May 2020 to November 2024 were included. Data collected encompassed demographic characteristics, intraoperative details (e.g., complications, operative time), and postoperative outcomes (e.g., pain scores, complications, length of hospital stay).

RESULTS

The mean age was 72.5 years; 59.7 % underwent total hysterectomies, and 30.3 % had adnexal procedures. Mean operative time was 81.6 min (range: 15-221), and mean blood loss was 66.5 ml (range: 0-500). Conversion to conventional laparoscopy occurred in four cases (3.4 %). Intraoperative complications occurred in 14 cases (11.8 %), with higher rates in patients with BMI > 30 (p = 0.01). ASA III and IV patients experienced higher complications rates both intraoperatively (17.1 % vs. 9.5 %, p = 0.24) and postoperatively (28.6 % vs. 11.9 %, p = 0.03) compared to ASA I and II patients. Complication rates increased with surgical complexity, reaching 33.3 % for three or more concomitant procedures. The mean hospital stay was 2.8 days. Patients 75 years of age or older did not have significantly higher complication rates, operating times, or longer hospital stays.

CONCLUSION

Our study confirms the feasibility and safety of vNOTES in elderly patients. However, increased number of concomitant procedures seems to correlate with higher complication rates, especially in patients with a high ASA score and high BMI. These findings offer valuable data for preoperative discussions with elderly patients.

Frailty is an independent predictor of postoperative rescue medication use after endoscopic sinus surgery

INTRODUCTION

The modified five-item frailty index (mFI-5) is a validated risk stratification tool with the ability to predict adverse outcomes following surgery. In this study, we sought to use mFI-5 to assess the potential relationship between unhealthy aging and postoperative endoscopic sinus surgery (ESS) outcomes.

METHODS

Patients who underwent sinus surgery at Vanderbilt between 2014 and 2018 were identified and assessed using the mFI-5, which is calculated based on the presence of five comorbidities: diabetes mellitus, hypertension requiring medication, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, congestive heart failure, and non-independent functional status. Multivariate regression analyses were performed to quantify the association of mFI-5 score on need for rescue oral antibiotics, oral steroids, and antibiotic irrigations within 1 year following ESS, adjusting for relevant potential confounders.

RESULTS

Four hundred and three patients met inclusion criteria.  Within 6 months of surgery, 312 (77%) required rescue antibiotics, 243 (60%) required oral corticosteroids (OCS), and 31 (8%) initiated antibiotic irrigations. Increasing mFI-5 scores were significantly associated with higher postoperative use of rescue antibiotics (p < 0.0001), OCS (p = 0.032), and antibiotic irrigation (p < 0.0001). Frailty scores remained as an independent predictor of these outcomes after adjustment for age, polyp status, preoperative sinonasal outcomes test (SNOT-22) score, and revision surgery status.

CONCLUSIONS

Modified frailty scores may be a useful clinical tool to predict the need for postoperative rescue medication use after ESS.

The role of laparoscopy in closed abdominal injury

Objective

To investigate the effect of laparoscopy on the diagnosis and treatment of closed abdominal injury.

Methods

A total of 26 patients with closed abdominal injury admitted to our hospital from January 2016 to January 2019 were searched. All patients were treated by laparoscopy. All patient reports were made with the informed consent of the patients.

Results

All patients were diagnosed clearly during operation. Among them, there were 3 cases of gastric perforation, 2 cases of liver rupture, 13 cases of spleen rupture, 3 cases of small intestine rupture, 1 case of liver round ligament laceration, 2 cases of small mesenteric vascular laceration, 1 case of colon liver mesenteric laceration, and 1 case of retroperitoneal hematoma. Of the 26 patients in this group, 23 (88.5%) completed laparoscopically or laparoscopically assisted; 5 cases (19.3%) only performed laparoscopic exploration without special treatment, and 3 cases (11.5%) switched to laparotomy. The blood loss was 50-2000 ml (mean 500 ml), and the operative time was 60-180min (mean 128min). The length of hospital stay was 3-21 d (mean 9 d). There were no complications or deaths related to laparoscopy in the whole group. Conclusion Laparoscopic technique has the advantages of less trauma, high diagnosis rate and fast recovery. It can also be used for surgical treatment in the diagnosis and treatment of closed abdominal injury, so as to achieve the purpose of comprehensive diagnosis and treatment. The limitations of laparoscopy should also be noted.

The Impact of Age on Perioperative Complications After Minimally Invasive Sacrocolpopexy

OBJECTIVE

Our aim was to compare perioperative complications between older (≥65 years), middle-age (55-64 years), and younger (<55 years) women after minimally invasive sacrocolpopexy (SCP).

METHODS

This retrospective cohort study included women undergoing SCP from 2006 to 2016 at a single academic center. Our primary outcome was the rate of perioperative complications (intraoperative and postoperative within 6 weeks of surgery), between groups. Secondary outcomes included readmission and reoperation rates.

RESULTS

There were 440 consecutive participants: 159 (36.1%) older, 160 (36.4%) middle-age, and 121 (27.5%) younger women. The overall intraoperative complication rate from SCP was 9.1%, with the most common being cystotomy (5.0%) and vaginotomy (1.8%). There were no differences in intraoperative complications between groups. Urinary tract infection (10.9%) and port-site cellulitis (3.4%) were the most common postoperative complications. For our primary outcome, younger women had a higher rate of postoperative complications compared with middle-age and older women (P < 0.001). There was no difference in postoperative complications between older and middle-aged women. In a multivariate regression controlling for comorbidity, body mass index, diabetes, smoking status, concomitant hysterectomy, and/or sling, younger women retained a higher rate of postoperative complications (odds ratio, 1.7 [1.2,2.2]). Rates of readmission (3.2%) and reoperation (0.7%) were also similar between groups.

CONCLUSIONS

The rate of perioperative complications was low with no difference in intraoperative complications. Women under 55 had a higher rate of postoperative complications compared to women age 55 to 65 years and those older than 65 years. Our results suggest that it is reasonable to offer SCP to women older than 65 years.

[Early clinical care strategy for severely injured patients with abdominal trauma]

BACKGROUND

The presence of abdominal injuries has a major impact on the mortality of severely injured patients. For injuries that require surgery, laparotomy is still the gold standard for early surgical care; however, there is increasing evidence that laparoscopy may be an alternative in the early clinical care of polytrauma patients.

OBJECTIVE

The present registry-based study analyzed the utilization and the outcome of laparoscopy in severely injured patients with abdominal trauma in Germany.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

A retrospective analysis of 12,447 patients retrieved from the TraumaRegister DGU^® (TR-DGU) was performed. The primary inclusion criteria were an injury severity score (ISS) ≥ 9 and an abbreviated injury scale (AIS) [abdomen] ≥ 1. The included patients were grouped according to early treatment management: (1) laparoscopy, (2) laparotomy and (3) non-operative management (NOM). Finally, group-specific patient characteristics and outcome were analyzed.

RESULTS

The majority of patients were treated by NOM (52.4%, n = 6069), followed by laparotomy (50,6%, n = 6295) and laparoscopy (0.7%, n = 83). The majority of laparoscopies were performed in patients with an AIS [abdomen] ≤ 3 (86.7%). The ISS of the laparoscopy group was significantly lower compared to that of the laparotomy and NOM groups (ISS 23.4 vs. 34.5 vs. 28.2, respectively, p ≤ 0.001). The standardized mortality rate (SMR), defined as the ratio between observed and expected mortality, was lowest in the patients receiving laparoscopy followed by laparotomy and NOM (SMR 0.688 vs. 0.931 vs. 0.932, respectively, p-value = 0.2128) without achieving statistical significance.

CONCLUSION

Despite being rarely employed the data indicate the effectiveness of laparoscopy for the early treatment of severely injured, hemodynamically stable patients with an AIS [abdomen] ≤ 3.

Assessment of age-specific safety of laparoscopic surgery in elderly patients with ovarian tumors

AIM

We assessed the age-specific safety of laparoscopic surgery in elderly patients with ovarian tumors.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

We performed a retrospective analysis of 55 elderly patients treated by laparoscopic salpingo-oophorectomy under the diagnosis of an ovarian tumor between January 2009 and December 2014. We divided patients into three groups: "young-elderly" (aged 65-74), "old-elderly" (aged 75-84), and "super-elderly" (aged 85-105) and assessed clinical characteristics, surgical results and postoperative course. Statistical significance of categorical variables was examined by the Student's t-test, Mann-Whitney U test, or Fisher's exact test. Multiple regression analysis was used for multivariate analysis.

RESULTS

Of a total of 55 patients who underwent laparoscopic surgery, there were 36 patients in the young-elderly group, 17 in the old-elderly group, and two in the super-elderly group. Statistical analysis was performed between the young-elderly and the old-elderly groups because of the small number in the super-elderly group. More frequent comorbidities were found in the patients in the old-elderly than in the young-elderly group (Fisher's exact test, P = 0.007). There were no significant differences in operative time, estimated blood loss and postoperative hospital stay between the young-elderly and old-elderly groups. Intraoperative complications only occurred in the young-elderly group. Postoperative complications occurred in all groups.

CONCLUSIONS

Although patients in the old-elderly group had a significantly higher risk for surgery, they had equivalent surgical results to the young-elderly group for laparoscopic salpingo-oophorectomy.