title: Preventing postoperative complications in the elderly.
abstract: Postoperative complications are directly related to poor surgical outcomes in the elderly. This review outlines evidence based quality initiatives focused on decreasing neurologic, cardiac, and pulmonary complications in the elderly surgical patient. Important anesthesia quality initiatives for prevention of delirium, the most common neurologic complication in elderly surgical patients, are outlined. There are few age-specific quality measures aimed at prevention of cardiac and pulmonary complications. However, some recommendations for adults can be applied to the geriatric surgical population. In the future, process measures may provide a more global assessment of quality in the elderly surgical population.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, 4940 Eastern Avenue, A588, Baltimore, MD 21224, USA. fsieber1@jhmi.edu
authors.forename: Frederick E
authors.initials: FE
authors.lastname: Sieber
authors.forename: Sheila Ryan
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Barnett
mesh_terms: D000319:Adrenergic beta-Antagonists / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000368:Aged / Q000502:physiology*; D000758:Anesthesia / Q000009:adverse effects; D019090:Case Management; D015897:Comorbidity; D003693:Delirium / Q000517:prevention & control; D006331:Heart Diseases / Q000517:prevention & control; D006801:Humans; D019161:Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006993:Hypnotics and Sedatives / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008171:Lung Diseases / Q000517:prevention & control; D009422:Nervous System Diseases / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D010149:Postoperative Pain / Q000628:therapy; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D011786:Quality Control; D058996:Quality Improvement / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000639:trends; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D012307:Risk Factors
chemical_list: D000319:Adrenergic beta-Antagonists; D019161:Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors; D006993:Hypnotics and Sedatives