Anesthesiology clinics of North America
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Anesthesiol Clin North America · Mar 2000
ReviewChoosing general versus regional anesthesia for the elderly.
Although clinical perceptions and theoretic considerations suggest regional anesthesia should be safer than general anesthesia in elderly patients, current studies indicate no difference in outcomes. Regional anesthesia may still prove superior to general anesthesia if the right patient population or right endpoints are identified for comparison. A study of consequence of outcome, comparing the two approaches has created an expansion of the definition of anesthesia-related complications.
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Settings involving the extremes of age and illness are the most complex in ethical deliberation and require sound principles that can be clearly applied to individual situations. This article discusses how one's view of the aging process effects clinical decision making. ⋯ Issues such as informed consent, do not resuscitate orders in the operating room, and controversies in end-of-life palliative care specifically impact the role of the anesthesiologist. Anesthesiologists, as medical professionals in a health care team, have a great stake in ethical decision making and the ethics of health care policy.