ArticleCanadian journal of surgery. Journal canadien de chirurgie
Unscheduled general surgery has higher costs for older adults.
Article in Canadian journal of surgery. Journal canadien de chirurgie. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed, 3 citations in OpenAlex.
- Perioperative Management of the Geriatric Trauma Patient.Current anesthesiology reports · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundWith health care costs increasing, the cost of caring for older adults is rising. Understanding the costs of surgical care for older adults is crucial in planning for health care services. We hypothesize that increasing age predicts increasing surgical inpatient costs.
methodsWe conducted a retrospective analysis of general surgical inpatient costs at 4 hospitals over 2 fiscal years. We assessed the cost and number of procedures by age, procedure, hospital, cost category and surgical urgency. Costs were compared between surgical risk profile, urgency and age. Cost differences of 10% or more were considered clinically important.
resultsWe examined the surgical inpatient costs for 12 070 procedures, representing 84% of all admissions in the region. The average cost was $4351 for scheduled admissions and $4054 for unscheduled admissions. Only unscheduled admissions resulted in higher costs in older age groups, more than doubling in patients aged 80 years and older undergoing low- and moderate-risk unscheduled surgery. The higher costs for older adults was primarily because of higher postoperative costs. In addition, the screening of candidates for elective surgery may have resulted in preoperative medical optimization leading to decreased admission costs.
conclusionOlder adults requiring surgery incur increased costs only if admitted for emergency surgery. The cost increase associated with unscheduled admissions was primarily for increased postoperative costs. Innovative programs to reduce costs for postoperative care for older adults undergoing emergency surgery should be investigated.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.