[Dermatosurgery in the elderly]

In recent decades, the portion of elderly has increased substantially due to demographic changes in developed countries. Dermatological surgery is particularly affected by this development, because a large proportion of the elderly suffer from skin tumors, which are primarily treated surgically. Physiological changes of age and multimorbidity, often associated with polypharmacy, present the treating physician with enormous challenges. What aspects of care are important? What must be considered? What are possible complications and how can they be prevented? These important questions are answered. Finally, selected surgical approaches for the care of very old patients are also described.