The pharmacology of anesthetic drugs in elderly patients.
Elderly patients are more sensitive to anesthetic drugs than younger patients. This increased sensitivity has a pharmacokinetic basis if the dose produces a higher drug concentration in an elderly patient than in a younger patient. The increased sensitivity has a pharmacodynamic basis if the same concentration produces a more profound drug effect in elderly patients. This article reviews the mechanisms of increased sensitivity of elderly patients to opioids, hypnotics, amnestica, and muscle relaxants.
Shafer
S L
SL
Palo Alto VA Health Care System, California, USA.
D000368:Aged / Q000502:physiology*; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology; D000777:Anesthetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans
D000777:Anesthetics