Impact of Liver Cirrhosis on Perioperative Outcomes Among Elderly Patients Undergoing Hepatectomy: the Effect of Minimally Invasive Surgery

Background The impact of cirrhosis on perioperative outcomes for elderly patients undergoing hepatectomy remains not well defined. We sought to determine the influence of underlying cirrhosis and minimally invasive surgery (MIS) on postoperative outcomes among elderly patients who underwent a hepatectomy. Methods Patients who underwent hepatectomy between 2013 and 2015 were identified using the Center for Medicare Services (CMS) 100% Limited Data Set (LDS) Standard Analytic Files (SAFs). Short-term outcomes after hepatectomy, stratified by the presence of cirrhosis and MIS, were examined. Results Among 7452 patients who underwent a hepatectomy, a minority had cirrhosis (n = 481, 6.5%) whereas the vast majority did not (n = 6971, 93.5%). Overall, median patient age was 72 years (IQR 68-76) and preoperative Charlson comorbidity score was 6 (IQR 2-8). Patients with cirrhosis were more likely to be younger (median age 71 [67-76] vs 72 [IQR 68-76] years), male (64.4% vs 50%), African American (8.1% vs 6.4%) and have a malignant diagnosis (87.1% vs 78.7%) compared to non-cirrhotic patients (all p < 0.001). There was no difference among patients with and without cirrhosis regarding type of hepatectomy or surgical approach (open vs MIS) (both p > 0.05). Patients with versus without cirrhosis had similar complication rates (24.1% vs 22.3%, p = 0.36), as well as 30-day (6.2% vs 5%, p = 0.25) and 90-day (10.4% vs 8.5%, p = 0.15) mortality. MIS reduced the length-of-stay in non-cirrhotic patients (OR 0.79, 95% CI 0.62-0.99, p < 0.05), yet was not associated with morbidity or mortality (both p > 0.05). Conclusion The presence of cirrhosis did not generally impact outcomes in elderly patients undergoing hepatectomy for benign and malignant diseases. MIS hepatectomy in the elderly Medicare beneficiary population reduced LOS among patients without cirrhosis, yet was not associated with differences in morbidity or mortality.