A Prospective Study Frailty for Esophagectomy and Lung Resection in Thoracic Surgery

Frailty is a widely accepted but poorly defined physical condition that has been shown to be an independent predictor of surgical morbidity and direct discharge to skilled nursing facility (SNF). Attempts have been made to study frailty in surgical patients by employing models designed for the general population. Despite the attempts of studying frailty in general surgery patients, no study has designed a model comprised of objective metrics for general thoracic surgery patients.

The purpose of this study is to better understand frailty in the context of thoracic surgery patients and to develop an objective model of this nebulous variable. It is hoped that standard, simple, functional and laboratory data can be used to construct the model with the goal being to determine the impact of frailty on outcome for patients undergoing esophagectomy, lobectomy, or pneumonectomy. If a preoperative frailty index can be developed and demonstrated to predict outcome, this scoring system may allow care teams to predict post-operative complications, ICU and hospital recidivism, and early mortality, and possibly allow for much earlier preparation for unfavorable outcomes.