HTML Version 1-10-02
Disclaimer
The opinions expressed in this document represent those
of the authors. The purpose of the document is to educate
physicians and others about anesthetic issues pertinent
to the elderly population. The document specifically does
not purport to provide practice guidelines. The text is
not intended to be comprehensive and any apparent anesthetic
management suggestions will not apply to all patient situations.
Introduction
One of the goals of the ASA Committee on Geriatric Anesthesia
is to promote education of residents and anesthesiologists
about those aspects of aging that affect anesthetic practice.
This syllabus is our attempt to provide basic information
useful to all anesthesia practitioners. Chapters are deliberately
short in order to force focus on the important issues. More
detailed information can easily be obtained from the references
at the end of each chapter.
You are free to use this syllabus as you see fit for your
colleagues', your residents' and your own education. You
may make copies of all or part of the syllabus, so long
as it is not used for commercial purposes. Please give appropriate
credit to the authors whose work you use.
The syllabus should be considered a work in progress. With
the availability of the syllabus through the ASA Web site,
all ASA members will have immediate access to the latest
revision. Chapters may be added or deleted, and existing
chapters will change as new information becomes available
or revisions are made for clarity. Your comments and suggestions
are welcome and can be addressed to me. Another useful,
web-based resource is the book, "Geriatrics at Your
Fingertips". This small, reference textbook is published
annually by the American Geriatrics Society. As of 2002,
the AGS has made it available online for free at www.geriatricsatyourfingertips.org.
Although designed for primary caregivers, many of the chapters
have application to anesthesia. The text is a nice counterpart
to the geriatric anesthesia syllabus and is highly recommended
as a quick and dirty resource for information on aging.
Many people have contributed to this syllabus. Although
each chapter has been edited, each chapter reflects the
author's assessment of the literature and bias as to content.
There are strengths to multi-author works, and it was particularly
gratifying to find individuals other than present or former
committee members who were willing to contribute. The success
of the syllabus resides with the authors and we are very
grateful for their efforts. We hope you find the syllabus
useful in your care of the most rapidly growing segment
of our population. Anyone interested in getting further
involved with geriatric anesthesia is encouraged to contact
the ASA about the Committee on Geriatric Anesthesia or to
contact the newly founded Society for the Advancement of
Geriatric Anesthesia (www.sagahq.org).
G. Alec Rooke, M.D., Ph.D., 2001 Chair,
The Committee on Geriatric Anesthesiology
rooke@u.washington.edu
return to top
|