Frailty assessment and postoperative outcomes among patients undergoing general surgery

Background: Frailty is an emerging concept in modern general surgery because of its correlation with adverse outcomes. More frail older patients are undergoing general surgery due to the rapid aging of the population and the effect of the "baby boom" generation. However, there is no consensus on the definition of frailty and on ways to assess its severity and effect.

Purpose: To describe the definition and epidemiology, measurement tools, and the effect of frailty on postoperative outcomes after general surgery.

Methods: PubMed and Google Scholar databases were comprehensively searched.

Results: Frailty is a syndrome defined as increased vulnerability to stressors due to a decline in physiological function and reserve among organ systems, resulting in adverse outcomes. Numerous tools have been described and tested for frailty measurement, but the ideal clinical tool has not been found yet. The evidence from cohort studies and meta-analyses shows associations between preoperative frailty and adverse perioperative outcomes after general surgery.

Conclusion: Frailty is an essential concept in general surgery. However, further studies have to identify the optimal way to preoperatively assess frailty and risk-stratify older patients.