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With the advent of medicare and the increase in population over 70 years, anesthesiologist is faced in his daily practice with an ever-larger number of geriatric patients. Because the aged patients have a multiplicity of preoperative pathologic and physiologic states which may affect them during surgery, postoperatively they must be considered in their perioperative proper management. Two hundred twenty three surgical records of patient over 70 years of age were reviewed for the period of 1968 though 1981 from a total 26,722 such operations performed in Chung-Ang University Hospital. The details of these 223 operations were analyzed with respect to the variable incidence, sex, surgical department and disease, surgical site, elective or emergency surgery, concomittant disease, anesthesia technique and mortality. The results were as follows: 1. Total number of geriatric cases over 70 years of age were 223 cases(0.83% in average) in this period and there were 118 male(52.9%)and 105 female(47.1%) cases. 2. There were 97 cases(433.5%) in general surgery, but the most prevalent diagnosis were begign prostatic hypertrophy(BPH) in urosurgery which amounted to 35 cases(15,7%). 3. The most frequent surgical aite in this study was the lower abdomen(53.8%). 4. The rates of emergency surgery were 16% and most of them were diseases of general surgery(72.2%). 5. Preoperative concomittant diseases were 85% of all and were cardiovascular diseases and respiratory diseases in order. 6. General inhalation anesthesia(86.1%) was administered more oftem than regional anesthesia(13.9%) and halothane was used mainly since 1975. 7. The rates of postoperative complication were 10% and the relarionship between complications and duration of anesthesia was noted. 8. There were 8 cases(3.6%) of postoperative death, but nothing since 1976. In summary, the patients over 70 years of age had a poor surgical risk, but it is emphasized that the improvement of medicare and medical equipment will be needed to decrease the morbidity and mortality.
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