Liver resection versus ablation in geriatric populations - Does one method impart improved in-hospital mortality?

Objective: This study aimed to compare surgical resection versus ablation for managing liver malignancies in patients 65 and older. Material and Methods: Cases with liver tumors were extracted from the NSQIP database for patients aged ≥65 years. Following propensity score matching, multivariate Cox regression was used for 30-day morbidity and mortality for liver resection and ablation. Results: Following a propensity score matching, 1048 patients were 1:1 matched for comorbid conditions. Patients stayed in the hospital three days longer after resection (p<0.001). Mortality was lower after ablation (p= 0.013). This difference was more prominent in patients with primary liver tumors (p= 0.008). Group A had a 10-fold lower risk of developing an abdominal abscess, a fourfold decrease in hospital-associated pneumonia (p= 0.001) and reintubation, a 10-fold reduction in bleeding requiring transfusion (p<0.001), and a three-fold decrease in risk of developing sepsis (p<0.001). Conclusion: Despite being a generally sicker patient population with worse underlying liver function, ablative techniques were associated with a lower risk of adverse outcomes when compared to more aggressive resection of primary malignant tumors of the liver.