A Geriatric Anesthesia Subspecialty?

A Geriatric Anesthesia Subspecialty?

Experts weigh in on challenges of anesthetizing the elderly

“People are never more alike than they are at birth, nor more different or unique than when they enter the geriatric era.”

Those are the words of noted researcher Stanley Muravchick, MD, professor of anesthesia at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. Those words are included in the Syllabus on Geriatric Anesthesiology, a resource developed and distributed by the Society for the Advancement of Geriatric Anesthesiology (SAGA).

Muravchick’s comment is one you’ll hear experts on geriatric anesthesiology cite often. That’s because, when it comes to anesthetizing older patients for surgical procedures, one size definitely does not fit all.

“Geriatric anesthesia is much more complex and varying than anesthesia for a normal 40 year old. It varies from individual to individual,” explained Terri G. Monk, MD, an anesthesiologist with Duke University Health System. “Stan Muravchick said it well.”

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http://www.tampabaymedicalnews.com/content/article/13214614/a-geriatric-anesthesia-subspecialty