ABSTRACT
Background: To study the demography, disease distribution and co morbid conditions, complications and mortality among elderly patients undergoing operation in general surgical wards.Methods: A prospective observational study was conducted among elderly patients of age ≥60 years admitted in General Surgery wards at our institute for a period of a year. Results: A total of 137 patients were recruited in this study. Out of them 62.04% were men and 37.96% were women. Most common system involved was hepatobiliary with a total of 38 cases (27.7%), most common surgical disease in our study was hernias (27%) and gallstone disease (25%). About 55.5% of our study population had co morbid medical conditions. Hypertension was the most common co morbidity (38%) in our study. Out of 137 cases, 115 cases were elective cases and 22 were emergency cases, operated in emergency settings. About 16.7% of the study population had surgical complications. Post-operative seroma formation at the surgical site was the most common complication. About 7 cases were succumbed to death and mortality rate was about 5.1% in our study population.Conclusion: Prevalence of medical co morbidities is higher in elderly population. Out of them, hypertension and diabetes mellitus are the most common co morbid conditions. Most common indications for elective surgery in our study are hernias and gallstone disease. Early elective surgical intervention is preferred in elderly population when presented, as age, co morbidities and emergency settings increase risk of perioperative mortality.