Background: Postoperative complications have been identified as an important
and potentially preventable cause of increased hospital costs. While older adults
are at increased risk of experiencing complications and other adverse events, very
little research has specifically examined how these events impact inpatient costs.
We sought to examine the association between postoperative complications, hospital
mortality and loss of independence and direct inpatient health care costs in
patients 70 years or older who underwent nonelective abdominal surgery.