A worldwide overview of emergency laparoscopic procedure in the elderly

Laparoscopic surgery is currently the gold standard in the majority of abdominal elective procedures. In emergency setting, despite its well-known advantages, it is not widely employed. This might be due to many factors, like intraoperative difficulties (peritonitis, abscess, and adhesions) or availability of equipment. The elderly population (>65 years old) is continuously growing. Emergency surgical operations are weighed by high morbidity and mortality rates in these patients. In the last years, the concept of “frailty” was introduced and it seems to be better related to postoperative morbidity and mortality. Many frail scores have been developed in order to standardize this condition. In the elderly patients, the use of laparoscopy in emergency setting is feasible, but carried out just in few and selected cases. We performed a wide literature review to present the current guidelines and suggestions for the main surgical emergency laparoscopic procedures in the elderly patients.