‘Am I ever going to get back to being how I was before?’: the experience of emergency laparotomy for older people living with frailty

Undergoing emergency laparotomy appears to be a significant and potentially life-changing event for older people living with frailty, but one that they expressed gratitude to have experienced to remain alive. Our findings highlight the challenges encountered by this group across the perioperative and early recovery period, indicating that adaptations to service delivery may improve this experience and facilitate recovery.