Value of Flemish Version of the Triage Risk Screening Tool in Predicting Unfavorable Outcomes after Elective Cancer Surgery: A Propensity Score-Matched Retrospective Cohort Study

Introduction: The Flemish version of the Triage Risk Screening Tool (fTRST), derived from the Triage Risk Screening Tool for assessing risk of readmission to the emergency department, is increasingly used as a simple screening tool in oncology. This study aimed to evaluate the utility of the fTRST in the context of elective surgical treatment for urologic cancer patients.

Methods: We included 886 patients who underwent major urologic cancer surgery at our institution between 2020 and 2022 and underwent preoperative screening, including fTRST. We set the fTRST cutoff at 2 and used propensity score matching and multivariate regression analysis to assess how fTRST affected two postoperative outcomes: ambulation failure and delirium.

Results: Of the 886 patients, 693 (78%) had an fTRST score <2, and 193 (22%) had an fTRST score ≥2 (high likelihood of frailty). After matching the groups by propensity scores, we compared the outcomes of 131 patients in each group. We found that the group with fTRST ≥2 had significantly higher rates of ambulation failure (15 vs. 11%, p = 0.03) and delirium (16 vs. 11%, p = 0.008) than the group with fTRST <2. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that fTRST score ≥2 was an independent risk factor for postoperative ambulation failure (odds ratio [OR] = 4.05, p = 0.02), along with age ≥75 years (OR = 6.62, p = 0.02), preoperative benzodiazepine medications (OR = 5.12, p = 0.01), and receiving radical cystectomy (OR = 9.30, p = 0.02). Similarly, for delirium, fTRST score ≥2 was an independent risk factor (OR = 2.88, p = 0.03), along with preoperative benzodiazepine medications (OR = 4.38, p = 0.002).

Conclusion: The fTRST might be a screening tool with great potential for identifying patients at high risk for unfavorable postoperative outcomes in elective urologic cancer surgery.