Complications
Patients within both groups experienced a variety of complications which
are outlined in Table 4. The most common complication in both groups was
a prolonged ileus (75-85 age group, 17% vs 85+ age group, 11%). There
was a particularly high number of patients in the 75-85 years old group
with cardiac arrhythmias (13% vs 5%) when compared to the older group.
However, there was a higher percentage of abdominopelvic collections
(2% vs 8%) and incidences of respiratory failure (3% vs 8%) in the
over 85’s group.