scholarly journals Craniotomy size for traumatic acute subdural hematomas in elderly patients—same procedure for every age?

Author(s):  
Daniel Pinggera ◽  
Marlies Bauer ◽  
Michael Unterhofer ◽  
Claudius Thomé ◽  
Claudia Unterhofer

AbstractSurgical treatment of acute subdural hematoma (aSDH) is still matter of debate, especially in the elderly. A retrospective study to compare two different surgical approaches, namely standard (SC, craniotomy size > 8 cm) and limited craniotomy (LC, craniotomy size < 8 cm), was conducted in elderly patients with traumatic aSDH to identify the role of craniotomy size in terms of clinical and radiological outcome. Sixty-four patients aged 75 or older with aSDH as sole lesion were retrospectively analyzed. Data were collected pre- and postoperatively including clinical and radiological criteria. The primary outcome parameter was 30-day mortality. Secondary outcome parameters were radiological. The mean age was 79.2 (± 3.1) years with no difference between groups and almost equal distribution of craniotomy size. Mortality rate was significantly higher in the SC group in comparison to the LC group (68.4% vs. 31.6%; p = 0.045). The preoperative HD (p = 0.08) and the MLS (p = 0.09) were significantly higher in the SC group, whereas postoperative radiological evaluation showed no significant difference in HD or MLS. A limited craniotomy is sufficient for adequate evacuation of an aSDH in the elderly achieving the same radiological and clinical outcome.

2018 ◽  
Vol 128 (2) ◽  
pp. 429-436 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter J. Wilson ◽  
Sacit B. Omay ◽  
Ashutosh Kacker ◽  
Vijay K. Anand ◽  
Theodore H. Schwartz

OBJECTIVEPituitary adenomas are benign, slow-growing tumors that cause symptoms either through mass effect or hormone overproduction. The decision to operate on a healthy young person is relatively straightforward. In the elderly population, however, the risks of complications may increase, rendering the decision more complex. Few studies have documented the risks of surgery using the endonasal endoscopic approach in a large number of elderly patients. The purpose of this study was to audit a single center's data regarding outcomes of purely endoscopic endonasal transsphenoidal resection of pituitary adenomas in elderly patients and to compare them to the current literature.METHODSA retrospective review of a prospectively acquired database of all endonasal endoscopic surgeries done by the senior authors was queried for patients aged 60–69 years and for those aged 70 years or older. Demographic and radiographic preoperative data were reviewed. Outcomes with respect to extent of resection and complications were examined and compared with appropriate statistical tests.RESULTSA total of 135 patents were identified (81 aged 60–69 years and 54 aged 70 years or older [70+]). The average tumor diameter was slightly larger for the patients in the 70+ age group (mean [SD] 25.7 ± 9.2 mm) than for patients aged 60–69 years (23.1 ± 9.8 mm, p = 0.056). There was no significant difference in intraoperative blood loss (p > 0.99), length of stay (p = 0.22), or duration of follow-up (p = 0.21) between the 2 groups. There was a 7.4% complication rate in patients aged 60–69 years (3 nasal and 3 medical complications) and an 18.5% complication rate in patients older than 70 years (4 cranial, 3 nasal, 1 visual, and 2 medical complications; p = 0.05 overall and 0.013 for cranial complications). Cranial complications in the 70+ age category included 2 postoperative hematomas, 1 pseudoaneurysm formation, and 1 case of symptomatic subdural hygromas.CONCLUSIONSEndonasal endoscopic surgery in elderly patients is safe, but there is a graded increase in complication rates with increasing age. The decision to operate on an asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic patient in these age groups should take this increasing complication rate into account. The use of a lumbar drain or lumbar punctures should be weighed against the risk of subdural hematoma in patients with preexisting atrophy.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Weiqi Ke ◽  
Yuting WANG ◽  
Xukeng GUO ◽  
Ronghua HUANG ◽  
Xiangdong ZHANG ◽  
...  

Abstract Background:Artificial femoral head replacement is one of the most effective methods for treatment of severe diseases of femoral joint in the elderly. The ideal anesthetic effect is one of the key elements for the success of the operation because it brings fast recovery. However, the multiple comorbidities of the elder patients make them too weak to tolerate the hemodynamic changes after anesthesia. In this case, the most suitable anesthesia method for patients undergoing femoral head replacement surgery is of great significance.Objective:To compare the post-anesthetic hemodynamic changes between combined lumbar plexus and sciatic nerve block(CLPSB) and combined spinal and epidural anesthesia(CSEA) in elderly patients undergoing unilateral artificial femoral head replacement.Methods:We reviewed records of the patients who aged over 60 years old (age 62-103 years) and received unilateral artificial femoral head replacement between January 2015 and December 2020 in the first affiliated hospital of Shantou University Medical College. After adjustment according to the inclusion criteria, 477 patients were included and divided into CLPSB group (n=90) and CSEA group (n=387). The primary outcome was comparison of the hemodynamic changes after anesthesia, including the systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), mean arterial pressure (MAP) and heart rate (HR). The second outcome was the comparison of the vasopressor used during the surgery.Results:We established three models to compare the two anesthesia methods on hemodynamic changes. Crude model included all variates for analysis, while model I adjusted age and gender. Model II adjusted other comorbidities in addition to model I. All three models exhibit that changes of MAP (∆MAP) after CSEA were higher than that after CLPSB(β= 6.88, 95% CI: 4.33 - 9.42, P < 0.0001), with significant difference, which indicated that CSEA causes higher fluctuation of MAP. Concurrently, the use of vasopressors increased by 137% (OR=2.37, 95%CI: 1.24-4.53, P=0.0091) in the CSEA group, which is statistically significant. However, the changes of HR (∆HR) between the CLPSB and CSEA was not significant(β= 0.50, 95% CI: 1.62 - 2.62, P = 0.6427). Conclusions:Both CLPSB and CSEA are ideal anesthesia methods for patients receiving femoral head eplacement, though CLPSB is more suitable for elderly patients with advanced hemodynamic stability.


2013 ◽  
pp. 12-19
Author(s):  
Patrizia Zoboli ◽  
Giuseppe Chesi ◽  
Fabrizio Boni ◽  
Federica Maselli ◽  
Lisa Zambianchi

BACKGROUND Internal medicine specialists are often asked to evaluate a patient before surgery. Perioperative risk evaluation for elderly patients is important, because complications increase with age. The increasing age of the general population increases the probabilities of surgery in the older patients. The manifestation of a surgical problem, is more likely to be severe and complicated in the elderly patients. In fact, emergency surgery treatment occurs more frequently in the elderly (e.g., it is much more common to see intestinal obstruction complicating colorectal cancer in the elderly compared with a younger population). Old age is an independent factor for long hospital stay after surgery. The role of the preoperative medical consultant is to identify and evaluate a patient’s current medical status and provide a clinical risk profile, in order to decide whether further tests are indicated prior to surgery, and to optimise the patient’s medical condition in the attempt of reducing the risk of complications. The medical consultant must know which medical condition could eventually influence the surgery, achieve a good contact and communication between the medical and surgical team, in order to obtain the best management planning. AIM OF THE STUDY This paper focuses on the rational use of antibiotic prophylaxis and on the treatment of the complications of post-surgery infections (e.g., pulmonary complication, peritonitis, intra-abdominal infection). Specific aspects of pre-operative risk evaluation and peri and post-operative management are discussed. CONCLUSIONS The internal medicin specialist in collaboration with the surgical team is necessary in the peri and post-surgery management.


1980 ◽  
Vol 136 (3) ◽  
pp. 270-275 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robin J. Jacoby ◽  
Raymond Levy

SummaryClinical and computed tomographic (CT) data on a consecutive series of 41 elderly patients with affective disorders are presented, and comparisons made with a group of 50 healthy controls. In both groups ventricular size increased with age, but only in the controls was there an age correlation with sulcal widening. Using clinical and radiological criteria, the prevalence of cerebrovascular disease in the patient group was 12 per cent. A sub-group of patients with enlarged ventricles emerged, whose first depression began later in life, and who at the time of this study were older and showed more ‘endogenous’ features than the remainder. It is suggested that this provides further evidence that organic cerebral factors may have aetiological significance in some depressions of old age.


2019 ◽  
Vol 81 (01) ◽  
pp. 028-032 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luciano Mastronardi ◽  
Franco Caputi ◽  
Alessandro Rinaldi ◽  
Guglielmo Cacciotti ◽  
Raffaelino Roperto ◽  
...  

Abstract Objective The incidence of typical trigeminal neuralgia (TN) increases with age, and neurologists and neurosurgeons frequently observe patients with this disorder at age 65 years or older. Microvascular decompression (MVD) of the trigeminal root entry zone in the posterior cranial fossa represents the etiological treatment of typical TN with the highest efficacy and durability of all treatments. This procedure is associated with possible risks (cerebellar hematoma, cranial nerve injury, stroke, and death) not seen with the alternative ablative procedures. Thus the safety of MVD in the elderly remains a topic of discussion. This study was conducted to determine whether MVD is a safe and effective treatment in older patients with TN compared with younger patients. Methods In this retrospective study, 28 patients older than 65 years (elderly cohort: mean age 70.9 ± 3.6 years) and 38 patients < 65 years (younger cohort: mean age 51.7 ± 6.3 years) underwent MVD via the keyhole retrosigmoid approach for type 1 TN (typical) or type 2a TN (typically chronic) from November 2011 to November 2017. A 75-year-old patient and three nonelderly patients with type 2b TN (atypical) were excluded. Elderly and younger cohorts were compared for outcome and complications. Results At a mean follow-up 26.0 ± 5.5 months, 25 patients of the elderly cohort (89.3%) reported a good outcome without the need for any medication for pain versus 34 (89.5%) of the younger cohort. Twenty-three elderly patients with type 1 TN were compared with 30 younger patients with type 1 TN, and no significant difference in outcomes was found (p > 0.05). Five elderly patients with type 2a TN were compared with eight younger patients with type 2a TN, and no significant difference in outcomes was noted (p > 0.05). There was one case of cerebrospinal fluid leak and one of a cerebellar hematoma, both in the younger cohort. Mortality was zero in both cohorts. Conclusions On the basis of our experience and the international literature, age itself does not seem to represent a major contraindication of MVD for TN.


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 546 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomas Posadas ◽  
Grace Oscullo ◽  
Enrique Zaldívar ◽  
Alberto Garcia-Ortega ◽  
José Daniel Gómez-Olivas ◽  
...  

The population pyramid is changing as a result of the ever-increasing life expectancy, which makes it crucial to acquire an in-depth understanding of the diseases that most often affect the elderly. Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) affects 15%–20% of the population aged over 65 years. Despite this prevalence, there have been very few specific studies on the management of OSA in this age group, even though over 60% of the patients aged over 65-70 years who attend sleep units with suspicion of OSA receive treatment with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), on the basis of an extrapolation of the positive results achieved by CPAP in clinical trials involving middle-aged males. However, the latter’s form of presentation, evolution and, probably, prognosis comparing with OSA are not the same as those of elderly patients. Recent clinical trials performed on an exclusive series of elderly patients have shed light on the possible role of CPAP treatment in elderly patients with OSA, but there are still many questions that need to be answered. The physiological increase in the number of sleep-related disorders with the passing of years, and the lack of validated diagnostic and therapeutic tools for this age group are probably the greatest obstacles to define, diagnose and treat OSA in the elderly.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S632-S633
Author(s):  
Anne M Murray ◽  
John McNeil ◽  
Basil Eldadah

Abstract The NIA/NCI ASPREE (ASPirin in Reducing Events in the Elderly) Study was a landmark RCT of 19,114 healthy adults aged 70 (whites) and 65 (US minorities) in Australia and the US that demonstrated lack of effect of low dose aspirin (LDA:100 mg/d) on the novel primary end point of Disability- Free Survival (life free of disability and dementia) over a mean treatment of 4.7 years. Surprisingly, LDA was associated with a trend toward increased all cause mortality, driven by cancer deaths (results published NEJM September 2018). After the LDA intervention was halted in June 2017, ASPREE was extended as an observational cohort follow-on study, ASPREE-XT, to measure potential delayed LDA effects on ASPREE outcomes. The ASPREE study primary results will be summarized, and the rationale for and performance of the novel DFS geriatric outcome discussed. New results of the analysis of dementia as a secondary outcome will also be presented (both for overall dementia and Alzheimer’s disease). We will also examine the unexpected increased all-cause mortality attributed to cancer deaths, despite no significant difference between groups for all incident cancer, and effects of LDA on incident metastatic disease. The important implications of the ASPREE results for prescribing LDA for primary prevention in health elderly will be discussed, and the ASPREE-XT study design and progress described. Lastly, the breadth of the ASPREE sub-studies including the Biobank, Brain Imaging studies and Genomics, and opportunities to access the rich ASPREE data and collaborate with ASPREE investigators will be reviewed.


2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-35
Author(s):  
M. R. Atabegashvili ◽  
E. V. Konstantinova ◽  
M. D. Muksinova ◽  
A. E. Udovichenko ◽  
A. P. Nesterov ◽  
...  

The number of elderly patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) is constantly growing in general population. Accordantly, we have the growth of such patients in the group of acute coronary syndrome (ACS).Aim.To compare clinical characteristics of the elderly patient (>75 years old) with and without DM.Material and methods. This retrospective study included 1133 ACS patients who were aged ≥75 years and admitted to the City Clinical Hospital №1 from 01.01.2015 to 31.12.2016. Median age was 80 years, 66% were women. We analyzed 4 patient subgroups: Group 1 – 105 patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) and DM, Group 2 – 254 STEMI patients without DM, Group 3 – 222 non-STEMI patients with DM and Group 4 – 552 non-STEMI patients without DM. We used Student’s t-test and c2 tests to find significant difference between pairs of groups.Results. Median age of patients in 4 groups was 80, 81, 81 and 80 years (p>0.05), age variance was 75-100 years. DM was found in 29% of all elderly patients with no difference between STEMI and non-STEMI groups. STEMI and non-STEMI patients with DM were more likely women. NonSTEMI patients with DM more often had hypertension, previous stroke, lower median Hb (121 vs 127 g/l; p<0.001). Angiography data demonstrated more often three-vessel disease (43% vs 29.7%) and less one-vessel disease (15% vs 25.6%; p<0.05) between groups 3 and 4. Glomerular filtration rate (GFR) <60 ml/min/1.73 m2 occurred in 74%, 73%, 77% and 74% in patients of 4 groups (p>0,05), but GFR<45 ml/min/1.73 m2 was more prevalent in patients with DM than without DM: 45%, 39%, 45%, 36% in 4 groups. Finally, mortality rates didn’t demonstrate significant difference between DM and non-DM patients with STEMI (10% vs 13%; p>0.05) and non-STEMI (7% vs 7%) groups.Conclusion. DM is associated with ACS approximately in one third of the elderly patients and is not associated with its type (STEMI or non-STEMI). In STEMI and non-STEMI patients the female sex and GFR level <45 ml/min/1.73 m2 were associated with DM. In non-STEMI group multi-vessel disease and presence of hypertension and previous stroke were associated with DM. We didn’t find any difference between mortality in elderly patients with and without DM. 


1986 ◽  
Vol 49 (11) ◽  
pp. 362-364 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean Parker

Long-term care patients need a meaningful existence. It is our responsibility to ensure that time and energy are channelled into purposeful solutions for the disease of ‘time with nothing to do’. The author has taken up this challenge. Working as an activities organizer with the elderly for 11 years, she was determined never to take the role of a baby-sitter. The recreation unit has grown from its first eight guests to a purpose-built unit with approximately 1,500 attendances per month. A busy happy atmosphere now prevails where once there was a sea of dead faces. The choice to retain a sense of dignity and purpose should be available to all elderly patients who require long-term care.


1988 ◽  
Vol 74 (4) ◽  
pp. 433-438 ◽  
Author(s):  
Umberto Tirelli ◽  
Vittorina Zagonel ◽  
Rachele Volpe ◽  
Mauro G. Trovo ◽  
Antonino Carbone

The outcome of 70 elderly patients aged 65 years or more (median, 71 years) with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) treated between 1973 and 1981 with aggressive (AM) or conservative modalities (CM) was retrospectively evaluated. A significantly higher incidence of lethal and severe toxicity was observed in patients treated with AM than in those treated with CM (32 % vs 3 %, p < 0.01), with 10 % treatment related deaths in the AM group. Only 56 % of the deaths were attributed to NHL; other major causes were treatment-related deaths, infection and cardiac diseases. No significant difference in response and survival was found between AM and CM groups (complete remission rates were 35 % vs 42 %, and 10 year survival rates were 31 % vs 19 %, respectively), but the prevalence of stages III-IV in patients treated with AM makes these results meaningless. Prospective randomized trials with AM vs CM are clearly needed in elderly patients with advanced unfavorable NHL.


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