BPG is committed to discovery and dissemination of knowledge
Home / Archive / Volume 18, Issue 9
  • This Article
Peer-Review Report of This Article
CrossCheck and Google Search of This Article
Academic Rules and Norms of This Article
Supplementary Materials of This Article
Citation of this article
Corresponding Author of This Article
Research Domain of This Article
Article-Type of This Article
Open-Access Policy of This Article
Times Cited Counts in Google of This Article
Journal Information of This Article
Publication Name
World Journal of Gastrointestinal Surgery
ISSN
1948-9366
Publisher of This Article
Baishideng Publishing Group Inc, 7041 Koll Center Parkway, Suite 160, Pleasanton, CA 94566, USA

Retrospective Cohort Study
Copyright: ©Author(s) 2026. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license. No commercial re-use. See permissions. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc.
World J Gastrointest Surg. Sep 27, 2026; 18(9): 120394
Published online Sep 27, 2026. doi: 10.4240/wjgs.120394
Effects of comprehensive geriatric assessment-guided nursing interventions on postoperative complications/recovery in elderly patients undergoing gastrointestinal or hepatobiliary surgery
Zhe-Xin Dong, Shuang Xie, Jing Xu
Zhe-Xin Dong, Shuang Xie, Jing Xu, General Ward of Ward 17, Zhejiang Hospital, Hangzhou 310013, Zhejiang Province, China
Author contributions: Dong ZX designed and wrote the manuscript; Xie S performed the research and collected and analyzed the data; Xu J prepared all tables and figures and reviewed and edited the manuscript. All authors reviewed the manuscript, were involved in critically revising it for important intellectual content, and approved the final version for publication.
AI contribution statement: No AI tool was involved in the generation of research data, interpretation of results, or formulation of conclusions. All AI-generated outputs were critically reviewed and revised by the authors.
Supported by Zhejiang Provincial Medical and Health Science and Technology Plan Project, No. 2025KY532.
Institutional review board statement: The retrospective research protocol was reviewed and approved by the Institutional Ethics Committee of Zhejiang Hospital (Approval No. ZJHIRB-2025-166K).
Informed consent statement: The Institutional Ethics Committee waived the requirement for individual informed consent because the analysis was performed exclusively on de-identified retrospective data extracted from the hospital’s electronic medical record system and involved no direct contact with patients or additional risks.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement-checklist of items, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE Statement-checklist of items.
Data sharing statement: De-identified individual participant data underlying the analyses, together with the statistical code and the data dictionary, are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request and following review by the Institutional Ethics Committee. Because the Ethics Committee waived the requirement for individual informed consent on the basis of de-identification, any onward data sharing will be limited to de-identified data and to bona fide academic research use.
Corresponding author: Jing Xu, Associate Chief Nurse, General Ward of Ward 17, Zhejiang Hospital, No. 12 Lingyin Road, Xihu District, Hangzhou 310013, Zhejiang Province, China. 13735815416@163.com
Received: April 14, 2026
Revised: June 18, 2026
Accepted: August 10, 2026
Published online: September 27, 2026
Processing time: 153 Days and 23.9 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND

Elderly individuals who undergo gastrointestinal or hepatobiliary surgery generally experience more postoperative complications than healthier, younger individuals do because of chronic illnesses, malnutrition, reduced functional capacity, and cognitive impairment. Comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA) can identify treatable risk factors; however, few studies have investigated nurse-led CGA applications in elderly surgical populations.

AIM

To examine how CGA-guided nursing interventions affect postoperative complications and recovery in elderly patients undergoing gastrointestinal or hepatobiliary surgery.

METHODS

This retrospective cohort study included data from 78 patients aged ≥ 60 years who underwent gastrointestinal or hepatobiliary surgery at Zhejiang Hospital (Zhejiang Province, China) between April 2025 and December 2025. Patients admitted concurrently during this period were allocated to two groups according to whether they had received CGA-guided nursing: CGA-guided (n = 40) or conventional control (n = 38) groups. CGA covered nutrition, activities of daily living, comorbidities, and cognition. Primary outcomes included complication rate and length of hospital stay (LOS).

RESULTS

The CGA group experienced fewer complications than the control group did (27.5% vs 55.3%; χ2 = 6.24, P = 0.013), including a shorter LOS (16.2 ± 4.2 days vs 20.8 ± 4.6 days; t = 4.58, P < 0.001). CGA-guided care was independently associated with a lower risk for complications (adjusted odds ratio = 0.35, 95% confidence interval: 0.14-0.87; P = 0.024) and shorter LOS (adjusted β = -3.68 days, 95% confidence interval: -5.72 to -1.64; P = 0.001) after adjustment for multiple variables.

CONCLUSION

CGA-guided nursing care reduces postoperative complications and LOS in older surgical patients. Incorporating a systematic evaluation of elderly patients into perioperative nursing protocols is effective.

Keywords: Geriatric assessment; Elderly; Gastrointestinal surgery; Hepatobiliary surgery; Postoperative complications; Nursing intervention

Core Tip: Comprehensive geriatric assistance-guided stratified nursing intervention reduced postoperative complications and shortened the length of hospital stay in elderly patients undergoing gastrointestinal or hepatobiliary surgeries. The effects remained significant after adjustment for other covariates. Hospitals should consider implementing the systematic integration of perioperative nursing for elderly individuals undergoing surgery.
Write to the Help Desk
Copyright © 1993-2026 Baishideng Publishing Group Inc, 7041 Koll Center Parkway, Suite 160, Pleasanton, CA 94566, USA. All rights reserved, including rights relating to text and data mining, AI training, and similar technologies. For open-access content, the applicable copyright and licensing terms govern.