Gastrointestinal endoscopy in patients aged 75 years and older: risks, complications, and findings--a retrospective study.

Purpose: Endoscopy of the gastrointestinal tract offers simultaneously diagnostic and therapeutic options and is increasingly performed in elderly patients due to a continuously growth of this population segment. Whereas safety data of diagnostic and interventional endoscopy in patients younger than 65 years are well characterized, only scarce data exist for elderly patients older than 75 years.

Methods: We analyzed outcomes and complications of endoscopic procedures with focus on colonoscopy in patients aged 75 and older at a single tertiary referral center in Germany between 1996 and 2006.

Results: A total of 3770 endoscopies (2270 gastroscopies, 735 colonoscopies, 765 ERCP) were performed in 1841 patients with a mean age of 79 years (range 75 to 97 years). Seventy-four percent of all patients suffered from relevant comorbidities. Therapeutic interventions were carried out in 43 % of colonoscopies. Complications were observed in approximately 1 %.

Conclusion: The observed complication rate in diagnostic and therapeutic endoscopic procedures is not increased in elderly patients compared to the reported complication rates in younger patients.