The impact of insight on post-lobectomy complications

A library of publications evaluating the association of age with surgical morbidity from pulmonary lobectomy are available to support a surgeon’s decision to offer, or not to offer surgery to the elderly. Some investigators have demonstrated higher surgical morbidity in the elderly, and others have shown no difference in complications between younger and older patients . A number of these articles are appropriately referenced in the article by Kawaguchi et al. Most surgeons have also met the octogenarian who appears younger than their biological age in the clinic preoperatively, and whom later appear older, than their biological age in their postoperative hospital bed.