Risk Analysis Index Score Research Articles

Risk Analysis Index Frailty Score as a Predictor of Otolaryngology Surgical Outcomes.

The Risk Analysis Index (RAI) score is a screening tool to assess patient frailty. It has been shown to be predictive of postoperative outcomes and mortality in orthopedic, urologic, and neurosurgical patient populations. We sought to evaluate the predictive ability of RAI score for surgical outcomes in an otolaryngology patient population. Retrospective study. Academic tertiary medical center. A retrospective study was conducted of adult patients undergoing otolaryngology surgery at a tertiary medical care center over 21 months. Patients were sent electronic RAI survey questionnaires via direct messaging, which was completed prior to surgery. Endpoint data were analyzed, including demographics, RAI score, and patient outcome data. Univariate analysis, ROC curves, and predictive modeling were utilized. A total of 517 patients responded to the RAI questionnaire, resulting in a 59.6% response rate. Mean RAI score was 21.38 ± 11.83. Higher RAI scores were associated with increased 30-day readmissions (P < .0015), postoperative complications (P < .001), hospital length of stay (P < .001), and discharge with home health (P < .001). Predictive models for RAI score and postoperative outcomes were created, and a cutoff score of RAI = 30 was established to identify frail patients. We evaluated if RAI scoring predicted postoperative complications in an otolaryngology patient population. Increased RAI score is significantly associated with poorer surgical outcomes, including increased hospital length of stay, 30-day readmissions, and postoperative complications. We propose a predictive model with suggested RAI cutoff scoring for use in the otolaryngology surgical population.

Baseline Frailty Measured by the Risk Analysis Index and 30-Day Mortality After Surgery for Spinal Malignancy: Analysis of a Prospective Registry (2011-2020).

To evaluate the prognostic utility of baseline frailty, measured by the Risk Analysis Index (RAI), for prediction of postoperative mortality among patients with spinal malignancy (SM) undergoing resection. SM surgery cases were queried from the American College of Surgeons - National Surgical Quality Improvement Program database (2011-2020). The relationship between preoperative RAI frailty score and increasing rate of primary endpoint (mortality or discharge to hospice within 30 days, "mortality/hospice") were assessed. Discriminatory accuracy was assessed by computation of C-statistics (with 95% confidence interval [CI]) in receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. A total of 2,235 cases were stratified by RAI score: 0-20, 22.7%; 21-30, 11.9%; 31-40, 54.7%; and ≥ 41, 10.7%. The rate of mortality/hospice was 6.5%, which increased linearly with increasing RAI score (p < 0.001). RAI was also associated with increasing rates of major complication, extended length of stay, and nonhome discharge (all p < 0.05). The RAI demonstrated acceptable discriminatory accuracy for prediction of primary endpoint (C-statistic, 0.717; 95% CI, 0.697-0.735). In pairwise ROC comparison, RAI demonstrated superiority versus modified frailty index-5 and chronological age (p < 0.001). Preoperative frailty, as measured by RAI, is a robust predictor of mortality/ hospice after SM surgery. The frailty score may be applied in clinical settings using a user-friendly calculator, deployed here: https://nsgyfrailtyoutcomeslab.shinyapps.io/spinalMalignancyRAI/.

Assessing the predictive value of the Risk Analysis Index for short-term outcomes in acute spinal cord injury surgery.

Acute traumatic spinal cord injury (tSCI) requires rapid surgical intervention to maximize neurological function. Older patients comprise an increasingly larger proportion of SCI patients annually, necessitating accurate preoperative risk stratification tools. This study utilized a frailty-based preoperative risk stratification score to predict adverse events following non-elective neurosurgical intervention for acute tSCI patients. The National Inpatient Sample (NIS) was queried for acute tSCI patients aged ≥18 who underwent spine surgery in 2019-2020. The Risk Analysis Index (RAI) was implemented with crosstabulation, to analyze frailty scores with the following binary outcome measures: overall complications, non-home discharge (NHD), extended length of stay (eLOS) (>75th percentile), and mortality. Area Under the Receiver Operating Characteristic (AUROC) analysis assessed the discriminative threshold of RAI compared to the modified 5-item Frailty Index (mFI-5) for NHD and 30-day mortality. A total of 9995 SCI patients underwent non-elective spine surgery. There were 1525 perioperative complications (15.3%) and 510 (5.1%) mortalities. An increasing RAI score was significantly associated with increasing postoperative mortality rates: RAI 0-20 (1.5%, N.=45), RAI 21-30 (3.4%, N.=110), RAI 31-40 (6.8%, N.=115), and RAI>41 (11.8%, N.=240) (P<0.001). RAI demonstrated superior discrimination compared to the mFI-5 for mortality and NHD with a C-statistic >0.72. Increasing frailty, as measured by RAI, was a reliable predictor of non-home discharge and 30-day mortality for SCI patients who underwent non-elective spinal surgery and RAI demonstrated superior discrimination compared to the mFI-5 for NHD and mortality.

Frailty in intracranial meningioma resection: the risk analysis index demonstrates strong discrimination for predicting non-home discharge and in-hospital mortality.

Frailty is an independent risk factor for adverse postoperative outcomes following intracranial meningioma resection (IMR). The role of the Risk Analysis Index (RAI) in predicting postoperative outcomes following IMR is nascent but may inform preoperative patient selection and surgical planning. IMR patients from the Nationwide Inpatient Sample were identified using diagnostic and procedural codes (2019-2020). The relationship between preoperative RAI-measured frailty and primary outcomes (non-home discharge (NHD), in-hospital mortality) and secondary outcomes (extended length of stay (eLOS), complication rates) was assessed via multivariate analyses. The discriminatory accuracy of the RAI for primary outcomes was measured in area under the receiver operating characteristic (AUROC) curve analysis. A total of 23,230 IMR patients (mean age = 59) were identified, with frailty statuses stratified by RAI score: 0-20 "robust" (R)(N = 10,665, 45.9%), 21-30 "normal" (N)(N = 8,895, 38.3%), 31-40 "frail" (F)(N = 2,605, 11.2%), and 41+ "very frail" (VF)(N = 1,065, 4.6%). Rates of NHD (R 11.5%, N 29.7%, F 60.8%, VF 61.5%), in-hospital mortality (R 0.5%, N 1.8%, F 3.8%, VF 7.0%), eLOS (R 13.2%, N 21.5%, F 40.9%, VF 46.0%), and complications (R 7.5%, N 11.6%, F 15.7%, VF 16.0%) significantly increased with increasing frailty thresholds (p < 0.001). The RAI demonstrated strong discrimination for NHD (C-statistic: 0.755) and in-hospital mortality (C-statistic: 0.754) in AUROC curve analysis. Increasing RAI-measured frailty is significantly associated with increased complication rates, eLOS, NHD, and in-hospital mortality following IMR. The RAI demonstrates strong discrimination for predicting NHD and in-hospital mortality following IMR, and may aid in preoperative risk stratification.

Risk Analysis Index as a preoperative frailty tool for elective ventriculoperitoneal shunt surgery for idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus.

Idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus (iNPH) predominantly occurs in older patients, and ventriculoperitoneal shunt (VPS) placement is the definitive surgical treatment. VPS surgery carries significant postoperative complication rates, which may tip the risk/benefit balance of this treatment option for frail, or higher-risk, patients. In this study, the authors investigated the use of frailty scoring for preoperative risk stratification for adverse event prediction in iNPH patients who underwent elective VPS placement. The Nationwide Readmissions Database (NRD) was queried from 2018 to 2019 for iNPH patients aged ≥ 60 years who underwent VPS surgery. Risk Analysis Index (RAI) and modified 5-item Frailty Index (mFI-5) scores were calculated and RAI cross-tabulation was used to analyze trends in frailty scores by the following binary outcome measures: overall complications, nonhome discharge (NHD), extended length of stay (eLOS) (> 75th percentile), and mortality. Area under the receiver operating characteristic curve analysis was performed to assess the discriminatory accuracy of RAI and mFI-5 for primary outcomes. A total of 9319 iNPH patients underwent VPS surgery, and there were 685 readmissions (7.4%), 593 perioperative complications (6.4%), and 94 deaths (1.0%). Increasing RAI score was significantly associated with increasing rates of postoperative complications: RAI scores 11-15, 5.4% (n = 80); 16-20, 5.6% (n = 291); 21-25, 7.6% (n = 166); and ≥ 26, 11.6% (n = 56). The discriminatory accuracy of RAI was statistically superior (DeLong test, p < 0.05) to mFI-5 for the primary endpoints of mortality, NHD, and eLOS. All RAI C-statistics were > 0.60 for mortality within 30 days (C-statistic = 0.69, 95% CI 0.68-0.70). In a nationwide database analysis, increasing frailty, as measured by RAI, was associated with NHD, 30-day mortality, unplanned readmission, eLOS, and postoperative complications. Although the RAI outperformed the mFI-5, it is essential to account for the potentially reversible clinical issues related to the underlying disease process, as these factors may inflate frailty scores, assign undue risk, and diminish their utility. This knowledge may enhance provider understanding of the impact of frailty on postoperative outcomes for patients with iNPH, while highlighting the potential constraints associated with frailty assessment tools.

Association of risk analysis index with 90-day failure to rescue following major abdominal surgery in geriatric patients

Failure to rescue (FTR) is a quality metric defined as mortality after potentially preventable complications after surgery. Predicting patients who are at the highest risk of mortality after a complication may aid in preventing deaths. Thirty-day follow-up period inadequately captures postoperative deaths; alternatively, a 90-day follow-up period has been advocated. This study aimed to examine the association of a validated frailty metric, the risk analysis index (RAI), with 90-day FTR (FTR-90). Patients aged ≥65 years who underwent a major abdominal operation between 2014 and 2020 at a quaternary care center were abstracted. Institutional data were merged with the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS NSQIP) and Geriatric Surgery Research File variables. The association between RAI and FTR-90 was evaluated using multivariable logistic regression. A total of 398 patients with postoperative complications were included. Fifty-two patients (13.1%) died during the 90-day follow-up. The FTR-90 group was older (median age: 76 vs 73 years, respectively; P=.002), had a greater preoperative American Society of Anesthesiologists classification score (P<.001), and had a higher ACS NSQIP estimated risk of morbidity (0.33% vs 0.20%, P<.001) and mortality (0.067% vs 0.012%, P<.001). The FTR-90 group had a greater median RAI score (23 vs 19; P=.002). The RAI score was independently associated with FTR-90 (odds ratio, 1.04; 95% CI, 1.0042-1.0770; P=.028) but not with FTR-30 (P=.13). Preoperative frailty, as defined by RAI, is independently associated with FTR at 90-day follow-up. FTR-90 captured nearly 60% more deaths than did FTR-30. Frailty has major implications beyond the typical 30-day follow-up period, and a longer follow-up period must be considered.

Prediction of 30-day and 1-year postoperative complications after balloon-assisted kyphoplasty in the elderly using the Risk Analysis Index.

Vertebral compression fracture (VCF) is the most prevalent fragility fracture. When conservative management fails, patients may undergo balloon-assisted kyphoplasty (BAK). In BAK, an expandable balloon preforms a cavity in the fractured vertebra before injection of bone cement. The aim of this study was to compare outcomes in patients stratified by age and frailty assessed by the Risk Analysis Index (RAI). A retrospective analysis of 334 BAK procedures (280 patients) for osteoporotic VCFs at a single institution was performed (2015-2022). Patients with at least 1 year of follow-up were eligible for inclusion. Patient demographics were recorded, including age, sex, BMI, RAI score, tobacco and steroid use, osteoporosis treatments, and bone density. Patients who underwent outpatient surgery were identified, and length of stay (LOS) was obtained for admitted patients. The rates of additional VCFs after kyphoplasty, 30-day and 1-year postoperative complications, and reoperation were identified. The overall rates of additional VCFs, 30-day postoperative complications, 1-year postoperative complications, and reoperation were 16.2%, 5.1%, 12.0%, and 6.3%, respectively. Patients were stratified by age: nonelderly (< 80 years; 220 patients, 263 treated vertebrae) and elderly (≥ 80 years; 60 patients, 71 treated vertebrae). There were no differences in sex (p = 0.593), tobacco use (p = 0.973), chronic steroid use (p = 0.794), treatment for osteoporosis (p = 0.537), bone density (p = 0.056), outpatient procedure (p = 0.273), and inpatient LOS (p = 0.661) between both groups. There were also no differences in the development of additional VCFs (p = 0.862) at an adjacent level (p = 0.739) or remote level (p = 0.814), 30-day and 1-year postoperative complications (p = 0.794 and p = 0.560, respectively), and reoperation rates (p = 0.420). Patients were then analyzed by RAI: nonfrail (RAI score < 30; 203 patients, 243 treated vertebrae) and frail (RAI score ≥ 31; 77 patients, 91 treated vertebrae). There were no differences in tobacco use (p = 0.959), chronic steroid use (p = 0.658), treatment for osteoporosis (p = 0.560), bone density (p = 0.339), outpatient procedure (p = 0.241), inpatient LOS (p = 0.570), and development of additional VCFs (p = 0.773) at an adjacent level (p = 0.390) or remote level (p = 0.689). However, rates of 30-day and 1-year postoperative complications in frail patients more than doubled in comparison with nonfrail patients (p = 0.031 and p = 0.007, respectively), and frail patients trended toward reoperation (p = 0.097). BAK is a safe treatment in the elderly, and age alone should not be used as an exclusion criterion during patient selection. Frailty, which can be assessed reliably using the RAI, may serve as a better predictor for postoperative complications and reoperation following BAK.

Preoperative Frailty and Malnutrition in Surgical Oncology Patients Predicts Higher Postoperative Adverse Events and Worse Survival: Results of a Blinded, Prospective Trial.

Frailty, a multidimensional state leading to reduced physiologic reserve, is associated with worse postoperative outcomes. Despite the availability of various frailty tools, surgeons often make subjective assessments of patients' ability to tolerate surgery. The Risk Analysis Index (RAI) is a validated preoperative frailty assessment tool that has not been studied in cancer patients with plans for curative-intent surgery. In this prospective, surgeon-blinded study, patients who had abdominal malignancy with plans for resection underwent preoperative frailty assessment with the RAI and nutrition assessment by measurement of albumin, prealbumin, and C-reactive protein (CRP). Postoperative outcomes and survival were assessed. The study included 220 patients, 158 (72%) of whom were considered frail (RAI ≥21). Frail patients were more likely to be readmitted within 30 and 90 days, (16% vs. 3% [P = 0.006] and 16% vs. 5% [P = 0.025], respectively). Patients with abnormal CRP, prealbumin, and albumin experienced higher rates of unplanned intensive care unit admission (CRP [27% vs. 8%; P < 0.001], albumin [30% vs. 10%; P < 0.001], prealbumin [29% vs. 9%; P < 0.001]) and increased postoperative mortality at 90 and 180 days. Survival was similar for frail and non-frail patients. In the multivariate analysis, frailty remained an independent risk factor for readmission (hazard ratio, 5.58; 95% confidence interval, 1.39-22.15; P = 0.015). In the post hoc analysis using the pre-cancer RAI score, the postoperative outcomes did not differ between the frail and non-frail patients. In conjunction with preoperative markers of nutrition, the RAI may be used to identify patients who may benefit from additional preoperative risk stratification and increased postoperative follow-up evaluation.

Trajectory Analysis of Health Care Utilization Before and After Major Surgery.

To characterize patterns of health care utilization before and after surgery and determine any association with preoperative frailty. Frail patients experience worse postoperative outcomes and increased costs during the surgical encounter. Evidence is comparatively lacking for the longer-term effects of frailty on postoperative health care utilization. Retrospective, longitudinal cohort analysis of adult patients undergoing any elective surgical procedure after preoperative frailty assessment with the Risk Analysis Index from February 2016 to December 2020 at a large integrated health care delivery and financing system. Group-based trajectory modeling of claims data estimated distinct clusters of patients with discrete utilization trajectories. Multivariable regression predicted membership in trajectories of interest using preoperative characteristics, including frailty. Among 29,067 surgical encounters, 4 distinct utilization trajectories emerged in longitudinal data from the 12 months before and after surgery. All cases exhibited a surge in utilization during the surgical month, after which most patients returned to "low" [25,473 (87.6%)], "medium" [1403 (4.8%)], or "high" [528 (1.8%)] baseline utilization states established before surgery. The fourth trajectory identified 1663 (5.7%) cases where surgery occasioned a transition from "low" utilization before surgery to "high" utilization afterward. Risk Analysis Index score alone did not effectively predict membership in this transition group, but a multivariable model with other preoperative variables was effective ( c = 0.859, max rescaled R2 = 0.264). Surgery occasions the transition from low to high health care utilization for a substantial subgroup of surgical patients. Multivariable modeling may effectively discriminate this utilization trajectory, suggesting an opportunity to tailor care processes for these patients.

Frailty screening in head and neck cancer care: Implementation outcomes and clinician perspectives.

453 Background: Frailty is a complex medical syndrome characterized by an increased vulnerability to stressors, distinct from age or comorbidity. Among patients with head and neck cancers, frailty is a significant predictor of post-operative complications, reduced quality of life, and increased rates of morbidity and mortality. Despite these known risks, frailty status is rarely assessed in routine oncology care or considered systematically in treatment planning. In this study, we evaluated the implementation of a frailty screening protocol as a new standard of care for patients with head and neck cancers at a large academic medical center. Methods: Frailty screening was embedded into an existing telephone-based intake workflow for newly referred patients, using the patient-reported Risk Analysis Index (RAI). RAI data was scored, documented in the health record, and presented at weekly case conferences. To evaluate the implementation, medical record data, including frailty status and sociodemographic and clinical information, between August 2020 and November 2022 was abstracted, and feedback from clinicians was collected using a brief survey on perceived clinical value. For the chart review and clinician survey, quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive statistics; thematic analysis was used to identify key findings in the qualitative data. Results: During the evaluation period, 488 of 585 eligible patients completed the frailty screening questionnaire, resulting in a compliance rate of 83.4%. Of those screened, the mean age was 63.1 years (SD: 16.2), 64% were male, and 20.5% had &gt; 3 comorbid conditions. For the total sample, the mean RAI score was 38.4 (SD: 6.52), with 43% deemed not frail, 52.7% frail, and 4.3% very frail. For the survey, the majority of respondents (11/14) believed that frailty screening added clinical value. Key qualitative themes emphasized how frailty screening facilitated a “whole patient” approach and a “valuable heads-up regarding a patient’s vulnerability.” Potential enhancements focused on making RAI data more clinically actionable. Conclusions: Overall, findings suggest that frailty is common in patients with head and neck cancer, and that frailty screening is achievable in routine care and provides clinical value to multidisciplinary oncology teams at the time of treatment planning. Future work may extend these findings to inform targeted pre-habilitation interventions for frail HNC patients and examine their impact on clinical outcomes.

RAI-measured frailty predicts non-home discharge following metastatic brain tumor resection: national inpatient sample analysis of 20,185 patients.

Preoperative risk stratification for patients undergoing metastatic brain tumor resection (MBTR) is based on established tumor-, patient-, and disease-specific risk factors for outcome prognostication. Frailty, or decreased baseline physiologic reserve, is a demonstrated independent risk factor for adverse outcomes following MBTR. The present study sought to assess the impact of frailty, measured by the Risk Analysis Index (RAI), on MBTR outcomes. All MBTR were queried from the National Inpatient Sample (NIS) from 2019 to 2020 using diagnosis and procedural codes. The relationship between preoperative RAI frailty score and our primary outcome - non-home discharge (NHD) - and secondary outcomes - complication rates, extended length of stay (eLOS), and mortality - were analyzed via univariate and multivariable analyses. Discriminatory accuracy was tested by computation of concordance statistics in area under the receiver operating characteristic (AUROC) curve analysis. There were 20,185 MBTR patients from the NIS database from 2019 to 2020. Each patient's frailty status was stratified by RAI score: 0-20 (robust): 34%, 21-30 (normal): 35.1%, 31-40 (very frail): 13.9%, 41+ (severely frail): 16.8%. Compared to robust patients, severely frail patients demonstrated increased complication rates (12.2% vs. 6.8%, p < 0.001), eLOS (37.6% vs. 13.2%, p < 0.001), NHD (52.0% vs. 20.6%, p < 0.001), and mortality (9.9% vs. 4.1%, p < 0.001). AUROC curve analysis demonstrated good discriminatory accuracy of RAI-measured frailty in predicting NHD after MBTR (C-statistic = 0.67). Increasing RAI-measured frailty status is significantly associated with increased complication rates, eLOS, NHD, and mortality following MBTR. Preoperative frailty assessment using the RAI may aid in preoperative surgical planning and risk stratification for patient selection.

Causes and Predictors of Unplanned Readmission in Patients Undergoing Intracranial Tumor Resection: A Multicenter Analysis of 31,776 Patients

Although unplanned readmission is a postoperative outcome metric associated with significant morbidity and financial burden, precise assessment tools for its prediction are yet to be developed. The Risk Analysis Index (RAI) could potentially be utilized to help improve prediction unplanned readmission in patients undergoing intracranial tumor resection (ITR). Here we evaluate the predictive accuracy of frailty on 30-day unplanned readmission following ITR using the RAI. Data were obtained from the American College of Surgeons-National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS-NSQIP) database. Baseline characteristics, preoperative clinical status, and outcomes were compared between patients with and without unplanned readmission. Frailty was calculated using the RAI. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to identify independent associations between unplanned readmissions and patient characteristics. The unplanned readmission rate of this cohort (N=31,776) was 10.8% (N= 3,420). Among the readmitted patients, 958 required unplanned reoperation. Multiple characteristics were significantly different between the readmitted and non-readmitted patients, including age, BMI, comorbidities, and RAI groups (p<0.05). Common causes of unplanned readmission included infection (9.4%), seizures (6%), and pulmonary embolism (4%). Patient characteristics identified as reliable predictors of unplanned readmission, included age, body mass index (BMI), functional status, diabetes, hypertension, hyponatremia, and their RAI score (p<0.05). Frail status, hyponatremia, leukocytosis, hypertension, and thrombocytosis were significant predictors of unplanned readmission. The RAI is a reliable pre-operative frailty index for predicting unplanned readmission following ITR. Utilizing the RAI may decrease unplanned readmission thorough identifying high risk patients, and enabling future implementation of appropriate management guidelines.

Preoperative Frailty Predicts Worse Outcomes after Microvascular Decompression for Trigeminal Neuralgia, Hemifacial Spasm, and Glossopharyngeal Neuralgia: A Multicenter Analysis of 1,473 Patients from a Prospective Surgical Registry

Introduction: Microvascular decompression (MVD) is an efficacious neurosurgical intervention for patients with medically intractable neurovascular compression syndromes. However, MVD may occasionally cause life-threatening or altering complications, particularly in patients unfit for surgical operations. Recent literature suggests a lack of association between chronological age and surgical outcomes for MVD. The Risk Analysis Index (RAI) is a validated frailty tool for surgical populations (both clinical and large database). The present study sought to evaluate the prognostic ability of frailty, as measured by RAI, to predict outcomes for patients undergoing MVD from a large multicenter surgical registry. Methods: The American College of Surgeons-National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS-NSQIP) database (2011–2020) was queried using diagnosis/procedure codes for patients undergoing MVD procedures for trigeminal neuralgia (n = 1,211), hemifacial spasm (n = 236), or glossopharyngeal neuralgia (n = 26). The relationship between preoperative frailty (measured by RAI and 5-factor modified frailty index [mFI-5]) for primary endpoint of adverse discharge outcome (AD) was analyzed. AD was defined as discharge to a facility which was not home, hospice, or death within 30 days. Discriminatory accuracy for prediction of AD was assessed by computation of C-statistics (with 95% confidence interval) from receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. Results: Patients undergoing MVD (N = 1,473) were stratified by RAI frailty bins: 71% with RAI 0–20, 28% with RAI 21–30, and 1.2% with RAI 31+. Compared to RAI score 19 and below, RAI 20 and above had significantly higher rates of postoperative major complications (2.8% vs. 1.1%, p = 0.01), Clavien-Dindo grade IV complications (2.8% vs. 0.7%, p = 0.001), and AD (6.1% vs. 1.0%, p < 0.001). The rate of primary endpoint was 2.4% (N = 36) and was positively associated with increasing frailty tier: 1.5% in 0–20, 5.8% in 21–30, and 11.8% in 31+. RAI score demonstrated excellent discriminatory accuracy for primary endpoint in ROC analysis (C-statistic: 0.77, 95% CI: 0.74–0.79) and demonstrated superior discrimination compared to mFI-5 (C-statistic: 0.64, 95% CI: 0.61–0.66) (DeLong pairwise test, p = 0.003). Conclusions: This was the first study to link preoperative frailty to worse surgical outcomes after MVD surgery. RAI frailty score predicts AD after MVD with excellent discrimination and holds promise for preoperative counseling and risk stratification of surgical candidates. A risk assessment tool was developed and deployed with a user-friendly calculator: https://nsgyfrailtyoutcomeslab.shinyapps.io/microvascularDecompression.

A Prospective Evaluation of Different Frailty Indices in Patients Undergoing Transurethral Resection of Bladder Tumor

BackgroundMost studies investigating the relationship between preoperative frailty and postoperative outcomes among bladder cancer patients only assess frailty retrospectively in patients who have undergone radical cystectomy. Transurethral resection of bladder tumor (TURBT) is a commonly performed procedure in outpatient settings for a large number of bladder cancer patients. The prevalence of frailty among bladder cancer patients and its impact on postoperative complications and mortality are not well studied. MethodsTo assess the prevalence of frailty among bladder cancer patients planned for TURBT at a tertiary cancer center using the modified frailty index (mFI) and Risk Analysis Index (RAI) and further assess the impact of these indices on 30-day postoperative complications and mortality rates. ResultsBetween May 2020 and March 2021, 343 consecutive patients were enrolled. The mean age of the cohort was 64.8 ± 13.1 years, 86.6% were male, and 82% had non–muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC). The majority of the cohort (92%) was found to have low American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) score class (I + II), while 35.3% were labeled as frail using mFI 2+, and 32.1% based on RAI (III, IV). The 30-day readmission, postoperative complications, and mortality rates in this cohort were 3.8%, 2.3%, and 6.6%, respectively. RAI was a better indicator of mortality compared to mFI. As such, patients with low RAI score (I, II) had 0.054 odds for 30-day mortality compared to the patients with high RAI score (III, IV) (OR 0.054; CI 95%, 0.004 to 0.784; P = 0.033).Conclusion Frailty, as measured by Risk Analysis Index, is an independent predictor of early mortality in patients undergoing TURBT. Preoperative frailty assessment may improve risk stratification and patient counseling prior to surgery.

Association of Routine Preoperative Frailty Assessment With 1-Year Postoperative Mortality

Patient frailty is a known risk factor for adverse outcomes following surgery, but data are limited regarding whether systemwide interventions related to frailty are associated with improved patient outcomes. To evaluate whether a frailty screening initiative (FSI) is associated with reduced late-term mortality after elective surgery. This quality improvement study with an interrupted time series analysis used data from a longitudinal cohort of patients in a multihospital, integrated health care system in the US. Beginning in July 2016, surgeons were incentivized to measure frailty with the Risk Analysis Index (RAI) for all patients considering elective surgery. Implementation of the BPA occurred in February 2018. The cutoff for data collection was May 31, 2019. Analyses were conducted between January and September 2022. The exposure of interest was an Epic Best Practice Alert (BPA) used to identify patients with frailty (RAI ≥42) and prompt surgeons to document a frailty-informed shared decision-making process and consider additional evaluation by a multidisciplinary presurgical care clinic or the primary care physician. The primary outcome was 365-day mortality after the elective surgical procedure. Secondary outcomes included 30-day and 180-day mortality as well as the proportion of patients referred for additional evaluation based on documented frailty. A total of 50 463 patients with at least 1 year of postsurgical follow-up (22 722 before intervention implementation and 27 741 after) were included (mean [SD] age, 56.7 [16.0] y; 57.6% women). Demographic characteristics, RAI score, and operative case mix, as defined by Operative Stress Score, were similar between time periods. After BPA implementation, the proportion of frail patients referred to a primary care physician and presurgical care clinic increased significantly (9.8% vs 24.6% and 1.3% vs 11.4%, respectively; both P < .001). Multivariable regression analysis demonstrated an 18% reduction in the odds of 1-year mortality (0.82; 95% CI, 0.72-0.92; P < .001). Interrupted time series models demonstrated a significant slope change in the rate of 365-day mortality from 0.12% in the preintervention period to -0.04% in the postintervention period. Among patients triggering the BPA, estimated 1-year mortality changed by -4.2% (95% CI, -6.0% to -2.4%). This quality improvement study found that implementation of an RAI-based FSI was associated with increased referrals of frail patients for enhanced presurgical evaluation. These referrals translated to a survival advantage among frail patients of similar magnitude to those observed in a Veterans Affairs health care setting, providing further evidence for both the effectiveness and generalizability of FSIs incorporating the RAI.

Risk Analysis Index and 30-Day Mortality after Brain Tumor Resection: A Multicenter Frailty Analysis of 31,776 Patients from 2012 to 2020.

Introduction The aim of this study was to evaluate the discriminative accuracy of the preoperative Risk Analysis Index (RAI) frailty score for prediction of mortality or transition to hospice within 30 days of brain tumor resection (BTR) in a large multicenter, international, prospective database. Methods Records of BTR patients were extracted from the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (2012-2020) database. The relationship between the RAI frailty scale and the primary end point (mortality or discharge to hospice within 30 days of surgery) was assessed using linear-by-linear proportional trend tests, logistic regression, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis (area under the curve as C-statistic). Results Patients with BTR ( N = 31,776) were stratified by RAI frailty tier: 16,800 robust (52.8%), 7,646 normal (24.1%), 6,593 frail (20.7%), and 737 severely frail (2.3%). The mortality/hospice rate was 2.5% ( n = 803) and was positively associated with increasing RAI tier: robust (0.9%), normal (3.3%), frail (4.6%), and severely frail (14.2%) ( p < 0.001). Isolated RAI was a robust discriminatory of primary end point in ROC curve analysis in the overall BTR cohort (C-statistic: 0.74; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.72-0.76) as well as the malignant (C-statistic: 0.74; 95% CI: 0. 67-0.80) and benign (C-statistic: 0.71; 95% CI: 0.70-0.73) tumor subsets (all p < 0.001). RAI score had statistically significantly better performance compared with the 5-factor modified frailty index and chronological age (both p < 0.0001). Conclusions RAI frailty score predicts 30-day mortality after BTR and may be translated to the bedside with a user-friendly calculator ( https://nsgyfrailtyoutcomeslab.shinyapps.io/braintumormortalityRAIcalc/ ). The findings hope to augment the informed consent and surgical decision-making process in this patient population and provide an example for future study designs.

Chief Residents Can Safely Operate on Older and Frail Patients

IntroductionOlder age and frailty increase the risk of poor recovery after surgery. We hypothesized that general surgery operations performed by supervised chief residents, as opposed to attending physicians, would still be safe for these vulnerable patients. Materials and methodsWe used the Veterans Affairs Surgical Quality Improvement Program database to identify 114,525 patients age 65+ y, including 18,030 patients age 80+ y and 47,555 categorized as frail, who had a general surgery procedure from 1999 to 2019 that was performed by an attending physician or by a supervised chief resident. Frailty was defined by a Risk Analysis Index score ≥30. We used inverse probability weighting on the propensity score to compare morbidity and mortality between operations performed by attendings versus chief residents. ResultsPatients 65 y and above had a 2.1% increase in postoperative complications when the surgery was performed by a chief resident instead of an attending surgeon (95%CI 1.2%-3.0%, P < 0.0001). A similarly increased risk of complications was seen for patients age ≥80 y old (+2.3%, 95%CI 0.7%-3.9%, P = 0.004) and for frail patients (+2.7%, 95%CI 1.4%-4.0%, P < 0.0001). There were no differences in mortality for patients age 65+ y (+0.2%, 95%CI −0.1%-0.5%, P = 0.2), 80+ y (+0.3%, 95%CI −0.6%-1.1%, P = 0.5), or frail patients (+0.2%, 95%CI −0.5%-0.8%, P = 0.6) when their operations were performed by chief residents. ConclusionsWe found a small increase in morbidity and no difference in mortality when older or frail patients were operated on by chief residents rather than attending surgeons. Our findings suggest that it is reasonable and safe for training programs to allow appropriately supervised chief residents to operate on older or frail patients.

Frailty measured by risk analysis index and adverse discharge outcomes after adult spine deformity surgery: analysis of 3104 patients from a prospective surgical registry (2011–2020)

Background ContextMeasurement of frailty with the Risk Analysis Index (RAI) has demonstrated improved outcome prediction compared to other frailty indices across the surgical literature. However, the generalizability and clinical utility of preoperative RAI scoring for prediction of postoperative morbidity after adult spinal deformity surgery is presently unknown. Thus, recent studies have called for an RAI analysis of spine deformity outcomes. PurposeThe present study sought to evaluate the discriminatory accuracy of preoperative frailty, as measured by RAI, for predicting postoperative morbidity among adult spine deformity surgery patients using data queried from a large prospective surgical registry representing over 700 hospitals from 49 US states and 11 countries. Study Design/SettingSecondary analysis of a prospective surgical registry. Patient SampleAmerican College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS-NSQIP) database (2011–2020). Outcome MeasuresThe primary endpoint was “adverse discharge outcome” (ADO) defined as discharge to a non-home, non-rehabilitation nursing/chronic care facility. MethodsAdult spine deformity surgeries were queried from the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS-NSQIP) database (2011–2020) using diagnosis and procedure codes. The relationship between increasing preoperative RAI frailty score and increasing rate of primary endpoint (ADO) was assessed with Cochran-Armitage linear trend tests. Discriminatory accuracy was tested by computation of concordance statistics (with 95% confidence interval [CI]) in receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. ResultsA total of 3104 patients underwent spine deformity surgery and were stratified by RAI score: 0–10: 22%, 11–15: 11%, 16–20: 29%, 21–25: 26%, 26–30: 8.0%, 31–35: 2.4%, and 36+: 1.4%. The rate of ADO was 14% (N=439/3094). The rate of ADO increased significantly with increasing RAI score (p<.0001). RAI demonstrated robust discriminatory accuracy for prediction of ADO in ROC analysis (C-statistic: 0.71, 95% CI: 0.69–0.74, p<.001). In pairwise comparison of ROC curves (DeLong test), RAI demonstrates superior discriminatory accuracy compared to the 5-factor modified frailty index (mFI-5; p<.001). ConclusionPreoperative frailty, as measured by RAI, is a robust predictor of postoperative morbidity (measured by ADO) after adult spine deformity surgery. The frailty score may be translated directly to the bedside with a user-friendly risk calculator, deployed here: https://nsgyfrailtyoutcomeslab.shinyapps.io/spineDeformity

Extraperitoneal cystectomy with ureterocutaneostomy derivation in fragile patients - should it be performed more often?

Radical cystectomy (RC) continues to be standard of care for muscle-invasive bladder cancer and recurrent or refractory nonmuscle invasive bladder cancer. Unfortunately, it has high rates of perioperative morbidity and mortality. One of the most important predictors of postoperative outcomes is frailty, while the majority of complications are diversion related. The aim of our study was to evaluate safety of extraperitoneal cystectomy with ureterocutaneostomy in patients considered as frail. We retrospectively collected data of frail patients who underwent extraperitoneal cystectomy with ureterocutaneostomy from October 2018 to August 2020 in a single center. We evaluated frailty by assessing patients' age, body mass index (BMI), nutritional status by Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool, overall health by RAI (Risk Analysis Index) and ASA (American Society of Anaesthesiologists) score, and laboratory analyses. We observed intraoperative outcomes and rates of perioperative (within 30 days) and early postoperative (within 90 days) complications (Clavien-Dindo classification). We defined extraperitoneal cystectomy with ureterocutaneostomy as safe if patients did not develop Clavien Dindo IIIb, or worse, complication. A total of 34 patients, 3 female and 31 male, were analyzed. The median age was 77, BMI 26, RAI 28, ASA 3 and the majority had preexisting renal insufficiency. Blood analyses revealed presence of severe preoperative hypoalbuminemia and anemia in half of our cohort. Intraoperative median blood loss was 250 cc, whilst operative time 245 min. During perioperative period 60% of our cohort developed Clavien Dindo II complication and during early postoperative period 32% of patients required readmission. One death occurred during early postoperative period (2.9%). After 12 months of follow-up, we observed stability of the renal function for most patients. We believe that extraperitoneal cystectomy with ureterocutaneostomy could be considered as a treatment option for elderly and/or frail patients.

Changes in frailty after parathyroid and thyroid surgery

BackgroundFrailty tools assess symptoms and comorbidities that may coincide with those of primary hyperparathyroidism. To test the hypothesis that parathyroidectomy improves frailty, we conducted a prospective cohort comparison of frailty after parathyroid or thyroid surgery. MethodsThe Risk Analysis Index measuring frailty was prospectively administered to patients undergoing curative parathyroid exploration or total thyroidectomy. Risk Analysis Index results at the preoperative, postoperative, and last follow-up visits were assessed longitudinally. ResultsCompared to total thyroidectomy patients (n = 142), parathyroid exploration patients (n = 187) were older (P = .001), more often male (P = .05) and had longer surgical follow-up (P < .001). Mean preoperative Risk Analysis Index scores were higher in parathyroid exploration patients (24 ± 9 vs total thyroidectomy 17 ± 8, P < .001). Parathyroid exploration patients demonstrated a significant decrease in Risk Analysis Index score from preoperative to last follow-up (P < .01); total thyroidectomy patients did not (P = .44). Parathyroid exploration patients were also less likely to exhibit a 20% increase in Risk Analysis Index over time, suggesting that parathyroidectomy slowed progression of frailty (2% vs 19%, P = .003). ConclusionIn this prospective study of frailty using a validated assessment tool, Risk Analysis Index scores decreased after parathyroid exploration surgery. When compared to total thyroidectomy patients, parathyroid exploration patients were also less likely to suffer a clinically meaningful ≥20% increase in Risk Analysis Index scores after surgery, suggesting that parathyroid exploration patients better maintained baseline health at final follow-up.