Assessment of the older female surgical patient

Many older women enjoy better health than ever. Improved health care for women creates populations of older women who also have mental illness, chronic illness, are mentally impaired, or have dementia. Although aging itself may not be considered a surgical risk, those coexisting conditions predispose many older women to be vulnerable or at risk for a surgical procedure. A few of the major problems recounted by caregivers are reviewed here. Among them are disorientation, incontinence, and decubitus ulcers.