Pancreatic Surgery in the Older Population: A Single Institution’s Experience over Two Decades

Table 1

Demographic details and postoperative morbidity.

Characteristic	Age < 75 years ()	Age ≥ 75 years ()	value
Females (%)	54% (399)	49.2% (98)	0.26
Race			0.14
Caucasian	89% (655)	94.4% (188)
Non-Caucasian	11% (82)	5.6% (9)
Cardiovascular history
Hypertension	56% (413)	66.8% (133)	0.001
Cardiac disease	40% (294)	76% (151)	0.001
Peripheral vascular disease	3.6% (27)	6% (13)	0.069
Pulmonary disease	8% (59)	11% (21)	0.23
Tobacco use			0.001
Past	41.5% (307)	53% (106)
Active	19% (140)	6% (12)
ECOG status			0.001
0	68.6% (517)	51.5% (103)
1	27.7% (205)	40.5% (81)
2	2.3% (17)	6% (12)
Pathology
Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma	31% (229)	42.6% (84)	0.002
Pancreatic cysts (IPMN, MCN, SCN)	21.9% (162)	20.3% (40)	0.61
Ampullary adenocarcinoma	6.5% (48)	11.1% (22)	0.03
Miscellaneous neoplasm (GIST, RCC, sarcoma, etc.)	2.5% (67)	8% (15)	0.51
Neuroendocrine tumors	13.7% (102)	5.5% (11)	0.002
Cholangiocarcinoma	8.5% (62)	9% (18)	0.74
Benign (pseudocyst, pancreatitis, trauma)	8.5% (67)	3.5% (7)	0.013
Postoperative morbidity and mortality
90-day mortality	3.2% (31)	5% (14)	0.09
Mean number of ICU days	1.35 days	2.33 days	0.027
(Range)	(0–59 days)	(0–58 days)
Clavien grade of complications (90 days)			0.56
(a) Minor (grades 1-2)	31% (227)	37% (73)
(b) Major (grades 3–5)	21% (157)	22% (78)
Pancreatic fistula	14.6% (108)	12% (24)	0.123
Grade A	6.3% (47)	5% (10)
Grade B	4.2% (31)	4.5% (9)
Grade C	4.2% (31)	2.5% (5)
Postpancreatectomy hemorrhage	5% (38)	2.5% (5)	0.013
Grade A	1.2% (9)	0% (0)
Grade B	1.2% (9)	1.5% (3)
Grade C	2.7% (20)	1% (2)

ECOG status: Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status; IPMN: intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm; SCN: serous cystic neoplasm; MCN: mucinous cystic neoplasms; GIST: gastrointestinal stromal tumors; RCC: renal cell cancer.