Feasibility of surgical treatment in octogenarian patients with colorectal cancer

Abstract

Objective this study aims to compare the profile of octogenarian individuals with colorectal cancer and those younger than 80 years of age regarding gender distribution, mean age of patients, length of hospital stay, type of surgery performed and postoperative complications. Methods this study was carried out at the Coloproctology Department of Hospital Felicio Rocho, Belo Horizonte, state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. We evaluated 438 patients with colorectal cancer undergoing curative surgery as disease treatment. Data was collected using specific guidelines established by the health care team during a clinical meeting. This is a descriptive and retrospective study that compared the profile of 52 octogenarian patients (Group I) and 386 patients younger than 80 years (Group II). Results The female gender predominated in group I with 69%, whereas the distribution between genders was similar in group II, with 50.3% of women. Mean age in group I was 84.5 years. The mean hospital stay was 8.25 days for patients younger than 80 years and 9.3 for the octogenarians. Group I had a complication rate of 28.84%, while in Group II it was 22.02%. Conclusion age older than 80 years does not contraindicate colorectal surgery.