To explore the short-term complications and their influencing factors in elderly patients after radical surgery for colorectal cancer (CRC).

All eligible CRC patients who had undergone radical surgery at the Colorectal Surgery Department of Heping Hospital Affiliated to Changzhi Medical College from January 2017 to October 2012 were included in the study, and their clinicopathological variables were analyzed, including preoperative complications, improved frailty index (mFI), prognostic nutrition index (PNI), and surgical and postoperative data and results. The Clavien-Dindo grading system was used to grade short-term postoperative complications, and the risk factors for the occurrence of short-term severe complications were identified by univariate and multivariate analyses.

A total of 36 patients experienced short-term postoperative complications, of whom eight experienced severe complication. Univariate analysis showed that severe postoperative complications in CRC patients were associated with ASA grade, mFI, and PNI (P<0.05), but not with gender, smoking history, BMI, alcohol consumption history, preoperative hemoglobin, CEA, cTNM stage, or tumor location (P>0.05); Multivariate analysis demonstrated that short-term severe postoperative complications were associated with ASA grade, mFI, and PNI (P<0.05).

Under the premise of strict preoperative evaluation, radical surgery for colorectal cancer in the elderly is safe.