Geriatrics Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Geriatrics, including details on old age, psychiatry, depression, medicine.

Perioperative management of the geriatric patient. Part I: respiratory system.

Bergman SA, Coletti D

Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Baltimore College of Dental Surgery, University of Maryland Dental School, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA. sab001@dental.umaryland.edu

The population of the United States is aging. It is expected that the population age 65 and older will increase to nearly 60 million by the year 2030 and those age 85 and over to nearly 11 million. Patients over age 65 are more than twice as likely to undergo surgical procedures than patients 40 to 65. Structural and physiologic changes associated with advancing age, combined with the increased likelihood of major disability or disease, significantly increase the risk of perioperative complications. These articles review the major age-related changes and the effect they have on the perioperative management of these patients.

Published 21 August 2006 in Oral Surg Oral Med Oral Pathol Oral Radiol Endod, 102(3): e1-6.
Full-text of this article is available online (may require subscription).

© 2005-2008 Geriatrics Research Today. All Rights Reserved.