Anesthetic implications of chronic medications

Abstract

The prevention and recognition of drug-related problems in older adults are of paramount importance. Medicationrelated problems are estimated to cause 106,000 deaths annually at a cost of $75-85 billion. Elderly patients presenting for surgery are often taking a large number and wide variety of chronic medications, greatly complicating their preoperative assessment and anesthesia management. The often daunting task of evaluating the potential interactions of these medications with one another as well as anesthetic medications is further complicated by the large number of inappropriate medications prescribed in this age group. © 2008 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.