Safety and feasibility of pancreaticoduodenectomy in the elderly: a matched study.

OBJECTIVES

To compare the clinical outcomes after pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD) in patients older than 70 years old against a matched cohort of patients younger than 70.

METHODS

A search of the department database revealed that 285 consecutive patients underwent PD from 1996 to 2009. Forty-one patients (14%) were identified to be older than 70 years (group 1), and they were matched with 41 patients younger than 70 (group 2) according to sex, body mass index, American Society of Anesthesiologists score and tumor staging. Medical comorbidities, preoperative CA19-9 and hemoglobin levels, operative and histopathologic data, postoperative course, and survival outcomes were compared between the 2 groups of patients.

RESULTS

Statistical analyses revealed no significant difference between the 2 groups, except for preoperative CA19-9 and hemoglobin levels, operating time, duration of hospitalization, and the number of lymph nodes removed. These parameters, however, did not have an impact on morbidity, mortality, and overall survival.

CONCLUSIONS

Based on our study, perioperative morbidity, mortality, and overall survival are not poorer in patients older than 70. Thus, PD should not be contraindicated solely on the basis of chronological age. Moreover, PD can be rationally proposed to patients meeting the "fit elderly" definition.