Perioperative Care Most Recent
MD, FRCPC, FACP, AGSF
Proportionately, the elderly are the major consumers of health care in our society. Surgery is similar to all other areas of medicine, in that the operating room lists are becoming dominated by senior citizens.
Recent advances in our understanding of the perioperative implications of aging have been due in large part to the establishment of clear distinctions between processes of aging and age-related disease.
MD, MSc, FRCPC
The last few decades have seen major advances in the surgical management of numerous illnesses. As the proportion of the elderly in the general population continues to increase, the prevalence of many chronic conditions also increases.
Although the elderly compose a significant percentage of the surgical patient population, postoperative pain management for this population has received little attention.
MD, CCFP, FCFP, FRCPC
The nurses inform you that the elderly woman in Bed 140-B is agitated, and is complaining that a ghost-like man has been frightening her in her room at night. She is recovering from hip surgery that took place the day before yesterday.
Surgery in the elderly has been associated with a greater morbidity and mortality than in younger patients due to the physiologic changes of aging, concurrent medical conditions and an increased rate of emergency procedures.
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Cardiovascular complications are the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in patients undergoing major noncardiac surgeries.