Current Status of Anesthesiology in Elderly Japanese Patients：Postoperative Activities of Daily Living and Anesthesia Techniques

Abstract

In addi-tion, the number of difficult anesthesia cases doubled during this time. The number of large-scale surgeries for patients aged 75 years and over and 85 years and over increased 1.8-fold and 1.3-fold, respectively, during these 11 years. The number of surgeries being performed is increasing, and older patients’ADLs may deteriorate after surgery even in the absence of complications. In our investigation using the National Hospital Organization’s database of about 310,000 patients, we found that postoperative ADL deterioration rates increased significantly in patients aged 70 years and over, reaching 20% in patients aged 90 years and over. According to the current literature, it is not clear whether anesthesia techniques affect postoperative ADLs in elderly patients who have undergone hip fracture surgery, but it has been suggested that good postoperative analgesia may contribute to ADL maintenance.