Outcomes of octogenarians undergoing gastrectomy performed for malignancy

Abstract Background Studies on perioperative outcomes of octogenarians with gastric cancer are limited by small sample size. Our aim was to determine the outcomes of gastrectomy and the variation of treatments associated with advanced age (≥80 y). Methods The National Surgical Quality Improvement Program database was queried from 2005 to 2011. Patients who underwent gastrectomy for malignancy were identified using International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision and Current Procedural Terminology codes. Results Of 2591 cases, 487 patients were octogenarians (≥80) and 2104 were nonoctogenarians ( versus 2.5%, P versus 25.5%, P versus 43.2%, P versus 17.4%, P P  = 0.03) and increased mortality (OR, 3.0; 95% CI, 1.9-4.9; P Conclusions Advanced age (≥80 y) was associated with worse outcomes in patients undergoing gastrectomy for malignancy. Therefore, careful staging is necessary to reduce unnecessary operations in this population. Furthermore, surgeons must place greater attention on optimizing the octogenarian population before surgery.