More elderly people are now opting for surgery: Study

Frailty particularly correlates with increased mortality and complications

People over 65 represent roughly 16 per cent of the American population, but account for 40 per cent of patients undergoing surgery in hospitals — and probably more than half of all surgical procedures.

Those proportions are likely to increase as the population ages and more seniors consider surgery, including procedures once deemed too dangerous for them.

Clifford Ko, a colorectal surgeon at the University of California, Los Angeles, recently performed major surgery on an 86-year-old with rectal cancer, for instance.

“Ten years ago, I’d think, ‘My god, can this person even survive the operating room?’” Ko said. “Now, it’s increasingly common to