Assessing the Risk of Postoperative Delirium Through Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment and Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group Performance Status of Elderly Patients With Gastric Cancer.

Background: Postoperative delirium is especially common and often problematic among elderly patients undergoing surgery. This study aimed to explore factors that can predict postoperative delirium in elderly patients undergoing gastric cancer surgery.

Methods: This cohort study included 255 patients age 75 years or older who underwent gastric cancer surgery between July 2010 and December 2020. All the patients underwent preoperative comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA) evaluation by a geriatrician. In addition to the CGA items, this study investigated the association between postoperative delirium and clinicopathologic factors, including Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status (ECOG-PS).

Results: The most common postoperative complication was delirium, present in 31 patients (12.2%). The group with delirium was significantly more likely to have ECOG-PS ≥ 2, diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease, or cerebral infarction. The CGA showed frailty in the Instrumental Activities of Daily Living scale (IADL), the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), the Vitality Index (VI), and the Geriatric Depression Scale 15 (GDS-15). In the multivariate analysis, the independent risk factors for delirium were ECOG-PS ≥ 2 (P = 0.002) and MMSE-frailty (P < 0.001). Using an MMSE score of ≤ 23 and an ECOG-PS score of ≥ 2 as cutoffs, postoperative delirium was predicted with a sensitivity of 80.7% and a specificity of 74.1%.

Conclusion: Postoperative delirium might be more easily predicted based on the combination of MMSE and ECOG-PS for elderly patients with gastric cancer undergoing gastrectomy.