title: The fate of elderly patients treated in the surgical intensive care unit. A survey of 174 patients over 60 years old.
abstract: The fate of 174 patients over 60 years old treated in the surgical intensive care unit was investigated. During their stay in the hospital the mortality was 39% and 24% in the selected group when hopeless cases with malignancies, mesenteric thrombosis and severe brain lesions were excluded. The prognosis was not affected by the age or concomitant diseases. The importance of meticulous preoperative treatment and surgery is stressed. Modern intensive care in special units has changed the prognosis of aged patients greatly.
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D005387:Finland; D005767:Gastrointestinal Diseases / Q000401:mortality; D006801:Humans; D007362:Intensive Care Units; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011182:Postoperative Care; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000401:mortality*