geriatric anaesthesia

We present the case of a successful application of combined spinal-epidural anesthesia for a geriatric patient undergoing open cancer surgery. The patient, affected by multiple comorbidities, was proposed for an open anterior rectal resection. The implementation of a tailored protocol, incorporating neuraxial techniques such as epidural and spinal anesthesia, facilitated optimal pain management and expedited postoperative recovery improving perioperative outcomes, and highlighting the potential benefits of such strategies in selected cases...

Objectives : With the ongoing epidemiological transition in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), conditions that require invasive treatment (surgery, cancer, and anaesthesia, etc.) will become increasingly common. Comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA) is a multidisciplinary diagnostic process aimed at identifying older people at risk of negative outcomes. It is important to know whether this approach integrates care management strategies for older people in a context where health services for older people are scarce, and staff members have little training in geriatrics...

PURPOSE: In 2013, Ontario introduced a patient-based funding model for hip fracture care (Quality-Based Procedures [QBP]). The association of QBP implementation with changes in processes and outcomes has not been evaluated. METHODS: We conducted a quasi-experimental study using linked health data for adult hip fractures as an interrupted time series. The pre-QBP period was from 2008 to 2012 and the post-QBP period was from 2014 to 2018; 2013 was excluded as a wash-in period...

OBJECTIVE: Delayed neurocognitive recovery is an objectively measurable decline in the cognitive status at varying intervals after surgery under both general and spinal anaesthesia. In this study, we used the Short Portable Mental Status Questionnaire to evaluate the protective effect of ketamine infusion on cognitive function of elderly patients undergoing spinal anaesthesia for orthopaedic procedures. METHODS: A randomised, double-blinded placebo-controlled trial...

BACKGROUND: Postoperative delirium (POD) is a severe perioperative complication that may increase mortality and length-of-stay in older patients. Moreover, POD is a major economic burden to any healthcare system. An altered expression of Acetylcholine- and Butyrylcholinesterases (AChE, BuChE) due to an unbalanced neuroinflammatory response to trauma or an operative stimulus has been reported to play an essential role in the development of POD. We investigated if perioperative measurement of cholinesterases (ChEs) can help identifying patients at risk for the occurrence of POD in both, scheduled and emergency surgery patients...

BACKGROUND: Etomidate has been advocated for anesthesia in older and critically ill patients because of its hemodynamic stability. Clinical studies have shown that dexmedetomidine has neuroprotective and anti-inflammatory properties and improves postoperative cognitive dysfunction in older patients. The present study was to evaluate the effects of the combination of etomidate and dexmedetomidine with different anaesthesia time on postoperative cognitive function in older patients. METHODS: A total of 132 older patients undergoing ureteroscopic holmium laser lithotripsy were randomly divided into EN group and ED group equally...

INTRODUCTION: Older surgical patients are more likely to be living with frailty and multimorbidity and experience postoperative complications. The management of these conditions in the perioperative pathway is evolving. In order to support objective decision-making for patients, services and national guidance, accurate, contemporary data are needed to describe the impact and associations between frailty, multimorbidity and healthcare processes with patient and service-level outcomes. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: The study is comprised of an observational cohort study of approximately 7500 patients; an organisational survey of perioperative services and a clinician survey of the unplanned, medical workload generated from older surgical patients...

OBJECTIVES: To compare the level of acceptance of silver diamine fluoride (SDF) treatment between different functional groups of older adults aged 65-years-old and above. METHODS: Three groups were recruited representing functionally-independent ("Community dwelling"), frail ("Nursing home"), and functionally-dependent older adults ("Caregiver": proxy respondent involved in caring for an older adult of all functional levels). Participants viewed a video on SDF and an interviewer-led questionnaire collected demographics, dental experience and perception on SDF use...

BACKGROUND: Neurofilament light is a blood-based biomarker of neuroaxonal injury that can provide insight into perioperative brain vulnerability and injury. Prior studies have suggested that increased baseline and postoperative concentrations of neurofilament light are associated with delirium after noncardiac surgery, but results are inconsistent. Results have not been reported in cardiac surgery patients, who are among those at highest risk for delirium. We hypothesised that perioperative blood concentrations of neurofilament light (both baseline and change from baseline to postoperative day 1) are associated with delirium after cardiac surgery...

Fractures of the upper end of the femur (FUEF) are a serious complication for the elderly, affecting 1,3 million patients a year worldwide (1). Studies dedicated to the post-operative follow-up of patients operated on for hip fracture in the long term are rare. The aim was to determine the epidemiological and evolutionary profile focusing on morbidity and mortality (survival and functional and cognitive decline) in the year following surgery for FUEF in patients aged over 65. Methods: Prospective observational study...

BACKGROUND: The primary aim of this study was to examine the clinical characteristics and outcomes of older patients who underwent hip fracture repair surgery. The secondary aims were to assess the predictors of the choice of spinal or general anaesthesia and to explore the risk factors for all-cause mortality. METHODS: This three-tertiary centres study was conducted at a tertiary care centre in Jordan. Clinical data include previous fracture history; medication details; comorbidities; surgical approach; and postoperative pain management...

BACKGROUND: The Trail Making Test B (TMT-B) is indicative of cognitive flexibility and several other cognitive domains. Previous studies suggest that it might be associated with the risk of developing postoperative delirium, but evidence is limited and conflicting. We therefore aimed to replicate the association of preoperative TMT-B results with postoperative delirium. METHODS: We included older adults (≥65 yr) scheduled for major surgery and without signs of dementia to participate in this binational two-centre longitudinal observational cohort study...

OBJECTIVE: Preoperative oral rehydration solution (ORS) supplementation offers wide postoperative benefits, but its role in reducing post-spinal myocardial ischaemia is uncertain. We evaluated this aspect in elective lower limb orthopaedic surgeries and compared it to conventional preoperative fasting. METHODS: Prospectively, we randomised 126 patients aged >60 years into two groups: (A) received reconstituted ORS (1000 mL) during the overnight preoperative fasting, continued up to 2 hrs prior to spinal anaesthesia (SA) induction; (B) kept on conventional overnight preoperative fasting...

Demand for anesthesia and analgesia for the frail elderly is continuously increasing as the likelihood of encountering very elderly, very vulnerable, and very compromised patients has, ever so subtly, increased over the last three decades. The anesthesiologist has, increasingly, been obliged to offer professional services to frail patients. Fortunately, there has been a dramatic improvement in medications, methods of drug delivery, critical monitoring, and anesthesia techniques. Specific methodologies peculiar to the frail are now taught and practiced across all anesthesia subspecialties...

Elderly patients undergoing surgery are at higher risk of life-altering and costly complications. This challenge is increasingly recognized with the growing geriatric surgical population. Advanced age and comorbid conditions, such as disability and frailty that often develop with age, are all independent risk factors of postoperative morbidity and mortality. A common factor in this age group is cognitive impairment, which poses a challenge for the patient and clinician in the perioperative setting. It affects the capacity for informed consent and limits optimization before surgery; furthermore, an existing impairment may progress in severity during the perioperative period, and new onset of signs of delirium or postoperative cognitive dysfunction may arise during postoperative recovery...

Population aging has induced in the last year a corresponding aging inside the surgical population, currently accounting for 45%.50% of the total surgical population in the majority of the advanced countries. This has induced a number of new challenges in the daily anesthesia practice, ranging from the need of implementing specific education in the field of geriatric medicine, organizational adjustments aimed to adapt our preoperative evaluation methodology to the needs older patients present, and a careful redesign of the whole perioperative course for these patients...

It is increasingly conceivable that elderly patients will be treated in perioperative settings as the world's population shifts toward an older age distribution. They are more prone to a variety of unfavorable outcomes as a consequence of the physiological changes that accompany aging and the coexistence of multiple medical conditions. Postoperative complications in elderly patients are linked to a large increase in morbidity and mortality and the burden placed on the healthcare system. Our goal is to determine how elderly patients' recovery after anesthesia differs from that of younger patients...

Elderly patients are perceived as a high-risk group for procedural sedation. Procedural sedation analgesia (PSA) is generally safe in older adults. What is not acceptable is undertreating pain or inadequately sedating a stable patient. All the usual precautions should be taken. One should consider any comorbidities that could make the patient more at risk of adverse reactions or complications. Older patients may be at higher risk for oxygen desaturation, but they usually respond quickly to supplemental oxygen...

Patients aged 65 and older are the fastest growing segment in the population of many countries. Based on evolving demographics showing increasing life expectancies, it is expected that there will be a concurrent rise in the demand for a large variety of surgical and anesthesia services. Surgery offers definitive management of many age-related diseases and provides symptom-relieving (morbidity) and life-extending (mortality) benefits. However, elderly adult surgical patients, especially the frail ones, often require a different level of care than younger patients during the perioperative period...

Surgery is a significant stressor for older patient. Most are at higher risk of complications due to frailty and comorbidities. This article will review the impact of surgery on the older patient, perioperative risk assessment and stratification, prehabilitation, and specific screenings and interventions. Electronic searches of PubMed were conducted to identify relevant literature using the following search terms: prehabilitation, sarcopenia, osteosarcopenia, frailty, perioperative evaluation, and polypharmacy...