Background During the last years, the concept of frailty has become
increasingly familiar in many surgical specialties, including cardiac
surgery. One of the main characteristics of frailty is its potentially
reversible nature. With the aim of reducing the incidence of
complications after surgery, efforts are being made to preoperatively
decrease the level of frailty, however, the effect that the surgery
itself may have in the postoperative frailty status is still unknown.
Methods A prospective cohort of 137 patients aged 70 or more undergoing
cardiac surgery with the use of cardiopulmonary bypass were recruited at
three university-affiliated hospitals in Spain. Frailty status was
assessed preoperatively and six months after surgery using two different
validated frailty measurements: The Fried frailty scale and the Clinical
Frailty Scale. We analyzed the changes in these frailty scores and the
transitions between frailty status after surgery. Results Prevalence of
frailty was 27.5% with the Fried Frailty Scale and 11% with the
Clinical Frailty Scale. Even though frail patients presented a higher
incidence of postoperative major complications than their robust
counterparts, up to 50% of frail patients improved their frailty status
after surgery. The distribution of frailty groups at baseline and six
months after surgery changed significantly, decreasing the overall
burden of frailty after surgery. Besides, robust patients showed a
slightly worsening of their previous frailty scores. Conclusions Frailty
is a multifactorial and dynamic condition that can be significantly
reduced after cardiac surgery, suggesting that cardiac pathology is an
important contributor to the preoperative patient’s frailty status.