Postoperative pain management in the elderly undergoing thoracic surgery

The management of postoperative pain in the elderly represents a considerable challenge because these patients are generally at higher risk for postoperative complications. There are several analgesic options, some of which may influence perioperative morbidity in this high-risk group of patients. A...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inThoracic surgery clinics Vol. 19; no. 3; p. 353
Main Authors Hanna, Marie N, Murphy, Jamie D, Kumar, Kanupriya, Wu, Christopher L
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States 01.08.2009
Subjects
Age Factors
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Analgesia, Epidural - methods
Analgesics - therapeutic use
Humans
Pain Measurement
Pain, Postoperative - therapy
Thoracic Surgical Procedures - methods
Treatment Outcome
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Summary:The management of postoperative pain in the elderly represents a considerable challenge because these patients are generally at higher risk for postoperative complications. There are several analgesic options, some of which may influence perioperative morbidity in this high-risk group of patients. Although use of regional analgesia, particularly epidural analgesia is associated with some benefits, including a decrease in perioperative morbidity, there are side effects and complications (eg, medication-related side effects, epidural hematoma, infection) from these and other techniques, and the clinician should evaluate the benefits and risks of each technique on an individual basis. Nevertheless, the available data suggest that use of regional analgesic techniques (ie, epidural and paravertebral catheters) is associated with a decrease in perioperative pulmonary complications.
ISSN:1547-4127
DOI:10.1016/j.thorsurg.2009.06.004