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.
Palo Alto VA Health Care System, California, USA.
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D000368:Aged / Q000502:physiology*; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology; D000777:Anesthetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans
D000777:Anesthetics