The influence between frailty, sarcopenia and physical status on mortality in patients undergoing emergency laparotomy

Frailty and sarcopenia have been independently shown to predict mortality in emergency laparotomy (EmLap), and both can be indicative of poor physical status. We aim to assess the prevalence of frailty, sarcopenia, and physical status in EmLap and explore the relationship between these factors and 30-day, 90-day and 1-year mortality. Retrospective analysis was performed on prospectively maintained Emergency Laparotomy and Laparoscopic Scottish Audit (ELLSA) database (2017–2019) which included patients ≥ 18 years who underwent EmLap. Clinical frailty scale (CFS) was used to classify frailty (score ≥ 4 as frail). Sarcopenia was assessed using total psoas index (TPI). Poor physical status (PPS) was defined by American Society of Anaesthesiologists physical status classification (ASA) ≥ 4. Binary logistic regression and fisher’s exact tests were used for statistical analysis. 215 patients were included in the study, with 57.2% female and median age of 64 years. Frailty was present in 17.2%, sarcopenia in 25.1% and 14.4% had PPS; 3.3% had all three factors. Frail patients had significantly higher risk for 30-day (p = 0.003), 90-day (p = 0.006) and 1-year mortality (p = 0.032). Patients with poor physical status also showed significantly higher mortality at 30-day (p < 0.001), 90-day (p < 0.001) and 1-year (p = 0.001). Sarcopenic patients did not show significant differences in mortality risks up to 1 year. Patients with all three factors had significantly higher 30-day (p = 0.003), 90-day (p = 0.046) and 1-year mortality (p = 0.108) compared to patients who had none of the factors. Frailty, sarcopenia, and PPS are prevalent in EmLap. Frailty and PPS were independently associated with short and long-term mortality, but not sarcopenia. While overlap exists between three factors, more research is required to understand the complex interplay.