Dubai, United Arab Emirates (CNN) — Seniors who are considering major surgery often feel uncertain about whether or not they will do it.
In many cases, the surgery can be life-saving, or it may improve the quality of life of an older individual.
However, advancing age puts people at greater risk of experiencing unwanted outcomes, including difficulty doing daily activities, a prolonged recovery period, problems with movement, and loss of independence.
So how do you determine whether the potential benefits of a major operation are worth the risk? And what questions should older people ask while trying to find out?
This is what the experts suggested:
What is the aim of the surgery?
Dr. Margaret Schwartz, assistant professor of surgery at the University of Wisconsin College of Medicine and Public Health, recommends asking your surgeon, “How will this surgery make things better for me?”
Will you extend your life by removing a rapidly growing tumor? Or would it improve your quality of life by making walking easier? Will it protect you from disability?
And if your surgeon indicates the need to remove a specific lump growing in your body, or remove a specific blockage, ask how this affects your daily life.
The discovery of an abnormal condition, such as a hernia, does not mean the need to treat it, especially if you do not have disturbing symptoms, and the operation was accompanied by complications.
If everything goes smoothly, what can I expect?
Schwartz, a vascular surgeon who specializes in vascular surgery, often treats patients with abdominal aortic aneurysms, enlargement of a major blood vessel that can be life-threatening when it ruptures.
This is how Schwartz described the surgical “best case scenario” for that case: “The operation takes about 4 to 5 hours. When it’s over, you’ll be in the intensive care unit on a breathing tube overnight for a day or two. After that, you’ll stay in the hospital for about another week. You may need after that.” To undergo rehab to get your strength back, but I think you can go home in 3-4 weeks, and it may take 2-3 months to feel like you did before the operation.”
What can I expect if things don’t go right?
According to Schwartz, this is what a “worst-case scenario” might look like: “You’ll have surgery, go to ICU with serious complications. You’ll have a heart attack. And after 3 weeks, you’ll be in the ICU with most of your strength gone, and no chance of going back.” Home again, or you might go through all this even though the operation didn’t work.”
“People often think, ‘I’m going to die on the operating table if things go wrong,'” said Dr. Emily Finlayson, director of the UCSF Seniors’ Surgical Center in San Francisco.
But she explained: “We’re very good at saving people and we can keep you alive for a long time. The truth is there could be a lot of pain, suffering, and interventions like feeding tubes and ventilators if things don’t go the way we hope.”
Given my health and my age, what is the likely outcome?
Once your surgeon has explained the different scenarios to you, Finlayson recommends asking these two questions: “Do you think I really need this operation?” and “What are the most likely outcomes for me?”
Research indicates that frail elderly people, or those with cognitive impairment or other serious conditions such as heart disease, have worse experiences when undergoing major surgeries.
What are the alternative solutions?
Finlayson advised checking out the non-surgical options available.
Older men, with prostate cancer for example, may wish to consider “watchful waiting,” ie constantly monitoring their symptoms rather than suffering significant practical risks.
Women in their 80s with mild breast cancer may choose to leave the tumor alone if removal poses a risk when other health factors are taken into account.