[Surgery of old age (author's transl)]

The importance of surgery in the aged is based on the increased life expectancy of the population. Besides the multimorbidity of geriatric people psychological and social aspects must be taken into consideration. In old age the danger of shock is increased therefore the indication for urgent surgery permits no delay. In 1975 649 patients over 60 years out of a total of 2532 operations underwent surgical procedures; 349 were urgent cases. Mortality rate below 10%.