Frailty linked to complications after surgery in European adults
Frailty before surgery was linked to 2.35 times the adjusted odds of complications within 30 days, compared with no frailty.
30 days, multicenter, registered NCT04140370
Limit: Frailty classification depended on the assessment tool, with different measures yielding different prevalence estimates
Edited by Boris Djordjevic · AgingResearch.News
A prospective observational study followed 1,472 adults undergoing planned or emergency surgery under general or regional anesthesia at 64 centers in 10 European countries. Their mean age was 60.9 years, and 52.9% were male. Researchers assessed frailty, a decline in the body's reserves for coping with stress, before surgery and 30 days later using three measures.
Before surgery, 10.4% or 14.6% had frailty, depending on the measure. Within 30 days, 11.9% of initially nonfrail patients became frail, and overall frailty prevalence reached 21.2%. Complications occurred in 19.2% of patients and death in 1.7% within 30 days. Frailty before surgery was associated with complications after adjustment for other factors. It was also linked to death and problems with thinking after surgery.
Why it matters
Frailty concerns the declining reserves that can make people vulnerable to physical stress as they age. The authors called for routine frailty assessment as part of surgical care.
Caveats
This observational study cannot establish that frailty caused complications or that surgery caused the rise in frailty. The findings concern adults undergoing surgery at participating European centers.
- Surgery
- Postoperative cognitive impairment
- Postoperative complications
- Barthel index
- FRAIL questionnaire
- Humans
The paper
Frailty patterns in European surgical patients: The FRAGILE multicentre prospective cohort
European Journal of Anaesthesiology, Oct 22, 2026
