Geriatric abdominal surgery under local anesthetic: a case report

Abdominal surgery in a fragile elderly patient is often a dilemma, especially in the rural hospital setting where complex anesthesiology services are not available. We have done thyroidectomies and umbilical and inguinal hernias under local anesthesia, and report the following case where the technique was extended to a critically ill geriatric patient with a strangulated hernia.