POSTOPERATIVE ANALGESIA IN ELDERLY AND SENILE PATIENTS
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.32782/2411-9164.23.2-4Keywords:
elderly patients, senile patients postoperative analgesia, opioids, non-narcotic analgesics, monitoring, reviewAbstract
The increase in the proportion of elderly people on the planet has led to a proportional increase in elderly patients undergoing surgical treatment. The aim: based on the analysis of scientific literature, to highlight the features of postoperative analgesia in elderly and senile patients. Materials and methods of the study. To achieve the goal, a search and analysis of full-text articles in the PubMed, Web of Science, Google Scholar, Scopus databases was conducted. The search was conducted using the key terms “postoperative analgesia” “elderly and senile patients”, included randomized controlled trials and meta-analyses and covered English – and Ukrainian-language publications over the past 10 years (from May 2015 to May 2025). Results. As the analysis of sources showed, the methodology for assessing pain syndrome and the rational selection of drugs for analgesia in these patients are of great importance for postoperative analgesia in elderly patients. To assess the severity of pain in elderly patients, it is worth using the Facial Pain Scale and the Defense and Veterans Pain Rating Scale. When choosing a method of analgesia, it should be taken into account that aging affects the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of drugs. Therefore, the doses of most modern analgesics in elderly and senile patients should be reduced by 25-75%. And the actual analgesia should be carried out under conditions of careful cardio-respiratory monitoring. Conclusions: in elderly and senile patients, the pain management plan in the postoperative period should include a careful assessment of the pain syndrome and a course of postoperative treatment with adequate pain relief. For most analgesia strategies, the concept of “start with the lowest possible dose and increase slowly” should be applied.
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