Is Testing a Better Way to Measure Frailty Before Surgery?

Posted November 15th, 2018

Even minor surgeries can have a serious effect on patients’ bodies. In an effort to provide the people under your care with the best possible treatment, you might be wondering about the best options for measuring frailty before surgery. Recent research suggests that frailty testing might be a good way to predict surgical outcomes, provided that medical staff members consider all the relevant factors when making decisions.

What the Study Said

Surgical outcomes vary dramatically from one patient to the next. As a medical care provider, it’s your responsibility to minimize the risks and help patients recover faster. Frailty tests are one way in which doctors and nurses assess patient health to discover which patients will bounce back fastest from treatment. Administering a frailty test can also help medical staff choose a course of treatment, as some patients might not be well suited to invasive intervention.

In a recent study involving 351 patients, researchers looked at various frailty factors to determine which ones had a significant impact on surgical outcomes. According to the report, scientists got the same results using just two factors (grip strength and weight loss) as they did when they used all five of the assessment points traditionally considered. Additionally, they discovered that including two more factors – physical status for anesthesia and hemoglobin levels – further improved prediction capacity.

Reducing testing times could mean patients gain access to the treatments they need faster. Additionally, expedited testing allows busy hospitals to care for more individuals in need. The end result is better care for a larger number of patients.

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