Assessment of Patient Frailty Prior to Thoracic Surgery: A Feasibility Study

Both gastro-esophageal and lung cancers are major causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. In Canada the incidence for Esophageal Adenocarcinoma has doubled in the last two decades, while lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death. Surgery is a treatment option for these patients; however, esophagectomy in particular, is associated with significant morbidity, mortality and adverse effect on quality of life. Despite satisfactory standard preoperative testing to evaluate risk for surgery, some patients experience morbidity and never recover fully from surgery. Frailty assessment may offer a more sensitive measure of a patient's physiologic reserve, which may allow identification of patients who are poor candidates for surgery. There is a lack of consensus of how best to assess frailty prior to surgery. This study aims to analyze frailty assessment as a tool for patient selection for surgery.