Perioperative Outcomes Of Elderly Patients Undergoing Laparoscopic Renal Procedures

Main Category: Urology / Nephrology
Also Included In: Seniors / Aging;  Medical Devices / Diagnostics
Article Date: 14 Apr 2009 - 0:00 PDT

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UroToday.com - The geriatric population of patients is ideally suited for laparoscopic approach to renal surgery.

This retrospective review of 115 patients older than 75 years who underwent laparoscopic renal surgery showed that their operative time, estimated blood loss, transfusion rate, and length of hospital stay were the same as that reported in the literature for all patients undergoing these procedures. More importantly the complication rates were also similar with an overall complication rate of 22.6% and for those > 80 years the complication rate was 13.7%. Patients with a Charlson comorbidity index > 2 are at a greater risk of complications in the perioperative period; 35% of these patients compared to 16% of patients with a Charlson comorbidity index < 1.

Therefore, age alone should not be a factor disqualifying patients for a laparoscopic approach to their renal surgery procedure, and age may actually be an indication for this surgical approach to renal disease.

Guzzo TJ, Allaf ME, Pierorazio PM, Miller D, McNeil BK, Kavoussi LR, Pavlovich CP, Schaeffer EM
Urology. 2009 Mar;73(3):572-6
10.1016/j.urology.2008.09.071

Written by UroToday.com Contributing Editor Elspeth M. McDougall, MD, FRCSC, MHPE

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