Factors modifying the use of anaesthetic drugs in the elderly.
The elderly are forming an ever greater proportion of our hospital population. The process of ageing produces a gradual erosion of all the body's margins of safety coupled with a decreasing ability to adapt. This has significant effects on the physiological responses to the surgical and pharmacological trespass encountered during anaesthesia. In addition elderly people often suffer from multiple pathology and polypharmacy, both of which play important roles in the selection of the optimal anaesthetic regimen.
Ward
R M
RM
East Birmingham Hospital, UK.
Hutton
P
P
D000368:Aged; D000777:Anesthetics / Q000009:adverse effects*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D006801:Humans; D011229:Preanesthetic Medication / Q000009:adverse effects; D012307:Risk Factors
D000777:Anesthetics