Surgery · 1 h ago
Danish Cohort Links Older Age and Comorbidity to Mortality After General Anaesthesia
A nationwide Danish registry-based cohort study included 453,133 general anaesthesia cases in 328,951 adults during 2020–2021. Thirty-day mortality rose with age after 65 years, including after adjustment for covariates, and was higher among patients with greater comorbidity, higher ASA classification and non-elective procedures.
- Cohort included 453,133 anaesthesia cases in Denmark.
- Thirty-day mortality was 1.5% overall.
- Mortality rose with age after 65, even after adjustment.
- Higher comorbidity, ASA class and non-elective status marked higher risk.
Researchers used national registry data to describe adults undergoing general anaesthesia in Denmark in 2020 and 2021, focusing particularly on patients aged 80 years or older. The cohort comprised 453,133 anaesthesia cases in 328,951 unique patients; 25,955 patients (8%) were at least 80. The primary outcome was 30-day mortality. Secondary outcomes included acute kidney injury within seven days, hospital length of stay and days in the ICU.
Overall 30-day mortality was 1.5% (4,814 deaths). Mortality was low among patients aged 18–65 years and increased with each year of age after 65, even after covariate adjustment. Patients aged 80 or older had higher ASA classifications and Elixhauser comorbidity burdens, and a lower proportion of elective procedures and higher proportions of expedited and urgent procedures. Mortality was especially high with high comorbidity, high ASA classification and non-elective procedures.
The findings describe risk patterns in a large national cohort and may inform perioperative risk assessment. As an observational study, it cannot establish that age or these characteristics cause mortality, or that any particular intervention reduces risk. The abstract does not provide detailed outcome estimates by subgroup or results for the secondary outcomes.
In practice
For adults undergoing general anaesthesia, this Danish cohort indicates that 30-day mortality increased with each year of age after 65, even after adjustment, and was particularly high with greater comorbidity, higher ASA classification and non-elective procedures. These characteristics may help clinicians contextualize perioperative risk discussions and assessment, especially for older patients. The study is observational and descriptive, so it does not show that changing care based on these associations improves outcomes. Its estimates come from Denmark in 2020–2021 and may not generalize to all settings.
AI-generated clinical interpretation · Not editor-reviewed
Is this summary clinically accurate?
Help fellow clinicians: your rating sends inaccurate summaries straight to our editors.
Sign in to rate this summary →Source
Acta Anaesthesiologica Scandinavica: Characteristics and Outcomes After General Anaesthesia in Elderly Patients: A Nationwide Cohort Study ↗This is an automated AI-condensed summary that has not yet been reviewed by an editor. Always consult the full item at the original source.