Advanced Age Is Not a Universal Predictor of Poorer Outcome in Patients Undergoing Neurosurgery.

Background: Advances in medical care and technology have dramatically improved outcomes in patients undergoing neurosurgical intervention; however, certain patient subgroups (e.g., older adults) may encounter greater rates of morbidity and mortality in the perioperative period. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of patient and hospital characteristics, including age, on in-hospital mortality, and complication rates of 3 routine neurosurgical operations: subdural hematoma evacuation, brain tumor resection, and degenerative spine procedures.

Methods: A retrospective multivariable analysis of the 2014 National Inpatient Sample was performed. The setting was a national sample of hospitalized inpatient stays occurring in 2014 in the United States. Patients (N = 48,963) included those undergoing subdural hematoma evacuation, brain tumor resection, or degenerative spine procedures, stratified according to age group (<65, 65-74, 75-84, 85+ years). Mortality and complication rate were measured.

Results: Age ≥85 years was found to increase the odds of mortality (odds ratio 11.32) and complications (odds ratio 2.64) in patients undergoing degenerative spine procedures, whereas age had no significant effect on mortality and complication rate in subdural hematoma evacuation and brain tumor resection. Multiple comorbidities and nonelective status were predictors of increased mortality and complication rate in all procedure groups.

Conclusions: Overall, our data would suggest that increased age does not universally predict worse outcome and that, for many procedures, surgical decision-making in older patients should instead consider other pertinent factors, such as comorbidities and elective status.