Avoiding Common Pitfalls: Anesthesia in the Geriatric Patient

This session addresses a core population of patients that encompass an increasing percentage of those requiring anesthesia. Geriatric patients, defined as patients who have completed over 75% of their expected lifespan, offer particular challenges for the anesthetist because of declining organ function, cognitive decline, altered pharmacokinetics and dynamics, and coexisting disease. This lecture will discuss these changes in depth, using supporting veterinary and human literature and provide the attendee with both management techniques and appropriate anesthetic selection to optimize outcomes.

• 1) Be able to list physiologic changes that occur in different organ systems in the aging patient.
• 2) Understand how pharmacokinetics and dynamics of different anesthetic drugs may be altered in the geriatric patient
• 3) Be able to develop anesthetic protocols and ensure proper preparation and management of the geriatric patient.
• 4) Be able to address common complications and utilize knowledge regarding geriatric physiology to promote successful outcomes