Decreasing Postoperative Risk in the Older Adult

Decreasing Postoperative Risk in the Older Adult
Name:
Institution:
As we grow older there are aspects of our lives that change. Unlike the much wisdom that we accumulate from the life experiences that we have along the way, our physiological and psychological status change as well. It is the physiological changes that have the most effect on the health and chances of recovery after surgery. Today there are an ever increasing number of patients above the age of 65 years and above that are visiting the surgeons table. This trend is set to grow as the largest population is skewing towards the elderly. There are a number of risks that face these patients given their advanced age and weakened body functions, with respect to the mortality and postoperative morbidity. Some of the changes that are age related and affect the rate at which these patients recover after the operation include a decrease in the normal heart rate and a weakened breathing ability.Difficulty in breathing is mostly due to the fact that their thorax becomes much stiffer, reduced ciliary functionality as well tidal volume and closing capacity reduction which highly increase the chances of developing atelectasis after the operation. The reduction in the heart rate is subject to a number of reasons. To start with the left ventricle has poor compliance combined with the reduced tolerance for the atrial fibrillation.
That much risk associated with the elderly developing complications requires that there be special caution taken when handling them. One of the places to start regards the medication. As compared to the youth after surgery, the elderly are bound to take more medication as there is the additional routine medication that they take for the various health conditions that they develop over the time. As such, there is a high likelihood that there is going some form of drug-to-drug interaction or even reaction (Hogue, C. W., Murphy, S. F.,HYPERLINK "http://circ.ahajournals.org/searc...