Older Surgeons, More Deaths?

Ivanhoe Newswire
Monday, August 28, 2006; 12:00 AM

(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- When deciding who will be holding the knife, patients should consider several factors before they agree to a surgical procedure. A new study reveals older surgeons can be just as successful as their younger counterparts ... as long as they keep up the pace.

Recent studies have suggested the age of the doctor can affect patient care, according to background information provided by researchers from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Their new study, however, reveals it's not that simple.

Using national Medicare files, the researchers assessed the relationship between deaths related to surgeries and the age of the surgeon. They found surgeons older than 60 had higher mortality rates only when it came to complex surgical procedures, like pancreatectomy, coronary bypass grafting, and carotid endarterectomy. Outside of these complex procedures, age did not have a significant effect on mortality rates.

Older surgeons tended to have a lower volume of procedures than younger surgeons in this study. The researchers report, however, that the older surgeons with a higher volume of procedures had mortality comparable to younger surgeons.

The researchers suggest their findings may have implications for physicians. Tapering off the volume of procedures is a common practice among surgeons approaching retirement. "Our findings suggest that, for some procedures, this strategy may not be optimal from the perspective of patient safety," write the authors.

This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, who offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, go to: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.

SOURCE: Annals of Surgery, 2006;244:353-362