title: Postoperative pain management in the elderly undergoing thoracic surgery.
abstract: The management of postoperative pain in the elderly represents a considerable challenge because these patients are generally at higher risk for postoperative complications. There are several analgesic options, some of which may influence perioperative morbidity in this high-risk group of patients. Although use of regional analgesia, particularly epidural analgesia is associated with some benefits, including a decrease in perioperative morbidity, there are side effects and complications (eg, medication-related side effects, epidural hematoma, infection) from these and other techniques, and the clinician should evaluate the benefits and risks of each technique on an individual basis. Nevertheless, the available data suggest that use of regional analgesic techniques (ie, epidural and paravertebral catheters) is associated with a decrease in perioperative pulmonary complications.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, The Johns Hopkins University, The Johns Hopkins Hospital, Carnegie 280, 600 North Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA.
authors.forename: Marie N
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Hanna
authors.forename: Jamie D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Murphy
authors.forename: Kanupriya
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.forename: Christopher L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Wu
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015360:Analgesia, Epidural / Q000379:methods*; D000700:Analgesics / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D010147:Pain Measurement; D010149:Postoperative Pain / Q000628:therapy*; D019616:Thoracic Surgical Procedures / Q000379:methods*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000700:Analgesics