Pelvic exenteration: Impact of age on surgical and oncologic outcomes

• There was no difference in surgical complication rates based on age.
• No differences in survival after pelvic exenteration based on age.
• Advanced age alone should not be a contraindication to pelvic exenteration.

ObjectiveTo evaluate whether preoperative age impacts surgical outcomes, complication rates, and/or recurrence in women undergoing pelvic exenteration.MethodsAll women who underwent a pelvic exenteration for any gynecologic indication at our institution from 1993 to 2010 were included. Women were stratified into groups based on age in years (young: ≤ 50, middle: 51–64, and senior: ≥ 65). Baseline characteristics, surgical outcomes, early (< 60 days) and late (≥ 60 days) postoperative complications, and recurrence/survival outcomes were ascertained. Fisher's exact test or Kruskal–Wallis test was performed. Kaplan–Meier survival curves were compared.Results161 patients were included (58 young, 62 in the middle, and 41 senior). Women in the young group predominately had a diagnosis of cervical cancer (82.8%) while women in the senior group primarily had a diagnosis of vulvar or vaginal cancer (70.7%). Senior women were also more likely to have hypertension (p < 0.0001) and pulmonary disease (p = 0.040). Operative time was significantly shorter for women in the senior group (8.5 h) compared with the middle (9.5 h) and young group (10.1 h) (p = 0.0089). There were no significant differences in early or late complications when stratified by age. The overall survival did not differ between age groups (p = 0.3760).ConclusionAlthough hypertension and pulmonary disease were more frequent in the senior age group, duration of surgery, blood loss, length of hospital stay and complication rates did not increase with age. Advanced chronological age should not be considered a contraindication to a potentially curative surgical procedure.