[Results of geriatric surgery in primary care]

An analysis was made of surgical interventions from 1967 to 1987, with patients above 65 years of age accounting for something between 19 and 24 per cent. Detailed investigations were conducted into 1,346 operations, with most of these having been performed on patients aged 70 to 74 (27.9 per cent). The overall lethality amounted to 25.2 per cent. The lethality risk increased with leapwise significance beyond the 75th year of age for both elective and emergency operations. Urgency of intervention, concomitant diseases, and age were found to be the major factors to determine prognosis and lethality. Reference is made to improved medical action in the perioperative phase as well as to consideration of ethical aspects.