Comparison of characteristics and morbility in colorectal oncological surgeries with primary anastomosis in elderly patients according to the approach route

Abstract

Introduction: Colorectal cancer is common and has more morbimortality in the elderly. Laparoscopic surgery is used to treat it, showing benefits such as less bleeding and hospitalization time. Despite their vulnerability, the elderly can be benefited from minimally invasive surgeries. Materials and Methods: Observational, descriptive, and retrospective study to compare the characteristics and morbimortality of colorectal surgeries with programmed primary anastomosis according to the handling way in 65-year-old or older patients in the General Surgery Services of the Institute of Social Prevision’s General Hospital between December 2019 and August 2020. Results: Of the 26 patients, 30.7% was submitted to laparoscopic surgery and 69.2% to conventional surgery. Most of them were right colectomies. The anastomotic configuration did not significantly differ. Stapler use was 87.5% in laparoscopic surgery and 55.6% in conventional. There were anastomosis leaks in both groups (27.8% in conventional). Complications were classified according to Clavien-Dindo observing that more than a third were type 1 and 2. Conclusions: Most patients were operated by conventional surgery. Right colectomy was the most performed procedure, and the anastomosis leak was observed in both groups, although with a higher conventional surgery rate. Most complications were mild. More studies with bigger samples are required to evaluate the relationship between surgical technique, surgeon’s experience, and morbimortality.