Inadequate emergence is a common postoperative complication in elderly patients following major abdominal surgery. This study was designed to determine its incidence, identify associated risk factors and characterise its clinical subtypes within this high-risk cohort.

This prospective single-centre cohort study was conducted at a comprehensive specialised tertiary care hospital in Northwest Ethiopia. Consecutive patients aged 65 years and older scheduled for elective major abdominal surgery under general anaesthesia were enrolled.

The primary outcome was the proportion of patients experiencing inadequate emergence.

A total of 388 patients were analysed. Inadequate emergence occurred in 21.9% of participants (95% CI 14.3% to 31.6%), with hypoactive emergence observed in 10.7% and emergence delirium in 11.2%. Multivariable logistic regression identified several independent predictors, including advanced age (adjusted OR (AOR)=1.9; 95% CI 1.5 to 8.2), preoperative anxiety (AOR=2.7; 95% CI 1.2 to 7.2), prolonged preoperative fasting (AOR=2.1; 95% CI 1.8 to 9.1), non-ketofol-based induction (AOR=3.4; 95% CI 1.6 to 6.3), absence of abdominal field block (AOR=4.2; 95% CI 4.0 to 9.6), substantial intraoperative blood loss (>1000 mL; AOR=1.9; 95% CI 1.2 to 7.6), postoperative nausea and vomiting requiring antiemetics (AOR=2.2; 95% CI 2.1 to 7.1) and presence of an indwelling urinary catheter (AOR=2.4; 95% CI 1.8 to 7.9).

Inadequate emergence occurred in approximately one in five elderly patients undergoing elective major abdominal surgery. Independent predictors included advanced age, major intraoperative blood loss, postoperative nausea/vomiting requiring antiemetics, non-ketofol-based induction, preoperative anxiety, absence of abdominal field block, presence of an indwelling urinary catheter and prolonged preoperative fasting.

This study aimed to assess the pattern of disease and predictors of mortality among critically ill geriatric patients admitted to the intensive care unit at a teaching hospital.

A single-centre retrospective cohort study.

Medical-surgical intensive care unit of Tibebe Ghion Specialized Hospital, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia.

We enrolled 296 critically ill patients (age 60+) admitted to the intensive care unit who stayed for more than 2 hours. Those patients with missing or incomplete records were excluded.

The primary outcome of this study was the time to death within 30 days following intensive care unit admission.

In this cohort, the overall mortality rate of geriatric patients in the intensive care unit was found to be 42.9%. The incidence rate of mortality was 6.3 deaths per 100 person-days observation. Acute kidney injury (adjusted HR=2.36, 95% CI: 1.16, 3.68), coexisting diseases (adjusted HR=1.66, 95% CI: 1.13, 2.42), the presence of shock (adjusted HR=2.27, 95% CI: 1.66, 4.53) and mechanical ventilation (adjusted HR=1.82, 95% CI: 1.14, 2.89) were predictors of mortality in the intensive care unit.

The mortality rate in the intensive care unit among geriatric patients was high. Predictors of mortality in this population of critically ill geriatric patients included acute kidney injury, the presence of shock, coexisting diseases and mechanical ventilation in the intensive care unit.