Article
Experiences in neurosurgery of the elderly
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Published: | April 23, 2004 |
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Outline
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A decision to operate on elderly patients is always a more difficult task. As in the last few decades the community has been getting older, this problem has often emerged. On the other hand, as surgical technique, anaesthesiology and intensive care had developed significantly, we could deal with far more elderly cases than before.
To establish a policy regarding operations on the senior neurosurgical patients we retrospectively investigated our cases older than 70 years of age who were admitted to the National Institute of Neurosurgery in the last ten years. We analysed age distribution, number and types of neurosurgical interventions, and outcome. We attempted to establish objective patient selection criteria in different patient groups like primary or secondary malignancies, benign tumours, and other frequent conditions in the elderly, such as hydrocephalus.
Based on our results,we might conclude that age itself appears to be of no disadvantage in the outcome of operative neurosurgery.