The modified frailty index-11 predicts medium-term outcomes after endovascular revascularisation for chronic limb threatening ischaemia in Asian patients

Abstract

Objective

The aim was to evaluate the utility of frailty, as defined by the modified Frailty Index-1 1 (mFI-11) on predicting outcomes following endovascular revascularisation in Asian patients with chronic limb-threatening ischaemia (CLTI).

Methods

CLTI patients who underwent endovascular revascularisation between January 2015 and March 2017 were included. Patients were retrospectively scored using the mFI-11 to categorise frailty as low, medium or high risk. Observed outcomes included 30-day complication rate and unplanned readmissions, 1-, 6- and 12-month mortality, and ambulation status at 6- and 12 months post-intervention.

Results

A total of 233 patients (250 procedures) were included; 137 (58.8%) were males and the mean age was 69.0 (±10.7) years. 202/233 (86.7%) were diabetic and 196/233 (84.1%) had a prior diagnosis of peripheral arterial disease (PAD). The mean mFI-11 score was 4.2 (±1.5). 28/233 (12.0%), 155/233 (66.5%), and 50/233 (21.5%) patients were deemed low (mF-11 score 0–2), moderate (mFI-11 score 3–5) and high (mFI-11 score 5–7) frailty risk, respectively. High frailty was associated with an increased 12-month mortality (OR 8.54, 95% CI 1.05–69.5; p = 0.05), 30-day complication rate (OR 9.41, 95% CI 2.01–44.1; p < 0.01) and 30-day unplanned readmission (OR 5.06, 95% CI 1.06–24.2; p = 0.04). Furthermore, a high score was associated with a significantly worse 6- (OR 0.320, 95% CI 0.120–0.840; p = 0.02) and 12-month (OR 0.270, 95% CI 0.100–0.710; p < 0.01) ambulatory status.

Conclusion

The mFI-11 is a useful, non-invasive tool that can be readily calculated using readily available patient data, for prediction of medium-term outcomes for Asian CLTI patients following endovascular revascularisation. Early recognition of short- and mid-term loss of ambulation status amongst high-frailty patients in this challenging cohort of patients could aid decision-making for whether a revascularisation or amputation-first policy is appropriate, and manage patient and caregiver expectations on potential improvement in functional outcome.