Older Patients' Recall of Goals of Care Discussions Following Emergency Abdominal Surgery

ABSTRACT Introduction Older patients undergoing emergency laparotomy are overrepresented and are at risk of poor postoperative outcomes that may not align with their goals. Goals of care (GOC) documentation remains low in older emergency laparotomy patients. Methods We conducted a prospective cohort study of emergency laparotomy patients aged ≥ 70 years between February 2024 and April 2025. Participants received phone follow‐up 30 days after index surgery, assessing postoperative outcomes, EQ‐5D‐5L quality of life and decision satisfaction. If patients lacked capacity, next of kin were consented. Our primary aim was to assess recall of a preoperative GOC discussion. Our secondary aims were to correlate GOC recall with postoperative quality of life and decision satisfaction, and to determine rates of documented GOC conversations and GOC form completion. Results We recruited 80 participants and completed follow‐up in 75. Twenty‐nine (39%) participant