Is there an age limit for performing liver surgery?

There is no predefined age limit for the performance of a major liver resection. This resection was performed by me on an 88 year old gentleman, who was noted to have an intra hepatic cholangiocarcinoma. He had an uneventful recovery and was discharged on POD 9.

"Can we do liver surgery on my father? He is old, about 70 years of age."is a common question that I face in the liver cancer clinic. The answer is a resounding yes. The standard criteria for operating on any patient is the functional status. If the patient is moving about and has no end stage organ failure in lungs or heart, they should have the surgery.

The above picture has been put up to encourage our patients not to defer definitive treatment on the basis of age alone. Age alone does not have a negative impact on cancer survival or operative success.

In the current era of specialised medical care, care of elderly surgical patients is standardised and allows them to have normal functional life in the rest of their lives. This is true even for major surgery like liver resection.