Contraindications to high-tech operations in elderly patients with multiple diseases can only be their condition, and there are no age restrictions. This was told to Rossiyskaya Gazeta in the Russian Gerontological Scientific and Clinical Center of the Russian National Research Medical University named after N.I. Pirogov of the Ministry of Health of Russia.
At the recent All-Russian Congress on Gerontology and Geriatrics, Russian Minister of Health Mikhail Murashko said that doctors cannot refuse complex care to a patient only on the basis that he is at an advanced age.
At the same time, the treatment of such comorbid (that is, with many pathologies) patients requires a special approach - with the participation of doctors of different specialties.
The most frequent operations performed on such patients are hip and knee replacements, hand surgeries, corrective osteotomies, radiofrequency ablations, surgical treatment of prostate adenoma and others.
"The treatment of patients of advanced age, over 80 years old, has become a routine for us," Ivan Sirotin, head of the Orthopedics Department of the N.I. Pirogov Russian National Research Medical Center, orthopedic traumatologist, told Rossiyskaya Gazeta. - Here is just one of the many examples. Recently, we received an 85-year-old man with pain in the hip joints, which tormented him for a long time. The patient was diagnosed with coxarthrosis of the 4th, that is, the last, stage. The disease causes the destruction of cartilage with the proliferation of bone tissues, it becomes difficult for a person to move, he experiences constant pain, which significantly reduces the quality of life. Surgical intervention was required. In this regard, the man was assigned an extended examination for concomitant pathologies that could cause complications after surgery. The patient was led by a whole team of specialists - cardiologists, neurologists, urologists, geriatricians. As a result, senile asthenia, widespread atherosclerosis, hypertensive pain were identified
When the patient's condition was stabilized, the operation took place.
"A few hours after the surgical treatment, the patient was already doing physical therapy exercises for a speedy recovery, and the next day he began to walk with the support of crutches. Three days after the operation, he felt fine and was transferred to outpatient observation. Thus, age is not a contraindication to complex surgical interventions. The most important thing is the competent preparation of advanced age patients for high-tech treatment," concluded Ivan Sirotin.
Original article on "Rossiyskaya gazeta" is here - https://rg.ru/2023/06/01/gerontologi-vozrast-ne-pomeha-dlia-slozhnyh-operacij.html