This review summarizes best practices for the perioperative care of older adults, as recommended by the American Geriatrics Society, American Society of Anesthesiologists, and American College of Surgeons, with practical implementation strategies that can be readily implemented in busy preoperative or primary care clinics. In addition to traditional cardiopulmonary screening, older patients should undergo a comprehensive geriatric assessment. Rapid screening tools such as the Mini-Cog, Patient Health Questionnaire-2, and Frail Non-Disabled Survey and Clinical Frailty Scale, can be performed by multiple provider types and allow for quick, accurate assessments of cognition, functional status, and frailty screening. To assess polypharmacy, online resources can help providers identify and safely taper high-risk medications. Based on preoperative assessment findings, providers can recommend targeted prehabilitation, rehabilitation, medication management, care coordination, and/or delirium prevention interventions to improved postoperative outcomes for older surgical patients. Structured goals of care discussions utilizing the question-prompt list ensures older patients have a realistic understanding of their surgery, risks, and recovery. This preoperative workup, combined with engaging with family members and interdisciplinary teams, can improve postoperative outcomes.Copyright © 2021. Published by Elsevier Inc.
About The Expert
Kahli E Zietlow
Serena Wong
Mitchell T Heflin
Shelley R McDonald
Robert Sickeler
Michael Devinney
Jeanna Blitz
Sandhya Lagoo-Deenadayalan
Miles Berger
References
PubMed
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