Anesthesia for a 94 year old. What's appropriate or not?

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tigerdaughter1 Asked January 2015

Anesthesia for a 94 year old. What's appropriate or not?

My dad has an open head wound that will not close completely. He had a skin graft the other year to close the wound, but even with hyperbaric treatments, it has not completely closed. Wound care is suggesting another operation to close the wound, but the skull looks dark and damaged.

I'm concerned about what type of anesthesia (and the amount) should be used as I don't want my dad to have dementia problems as a result. He's got good memory but does get a little confused at times.

Thank you for your input.

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score 0 · Answer 1

Thank you. Your shared experience is very helpful. Hope you're better soon!

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score 1 · Answer 2

Check around and see if said surgery could be done using a local that would only numb the nerves in the skull.

Anesthesia is rough for anyone who is in their senior years. I am only 68 and still have brain fog from a 2-hour surgery earlier last month.

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score 0 · Answer 3

Thank you both for these answers. The other solution, is to just keep dressing the wound and keep it covered. The Wound Care Ctr said the bone that's exposed is not getting oxygen and is basically "dead" so a plate or "plug" would have to be put in to fix the problem.

Is there anyway to double check an anesthesiologist's record in advance? If we go this route.

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score 1 · Answer 4

Anesthesia at his age will intensify his confusion and he won't bounce back. To what degree I don't think anyone can say. But if he has to have surgery you have no choice.

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score 2 · Answer 5

The basic problem is that he does not heal. So if you cut more out, you will simply have a larger open wound. General anesthesia is pretty dicey on a 94 year old patient. His heart may not like this. His brain may not like it either.
Please have a long talk with the anesthesiologist before you do anything, because he is the most critical MD on the team.

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Anesthesia for a 94 year old. What's appropriate or not?

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