[Surgical intensive care of the elderly]

Intensive care treatment of elderly patients is discussed controversially. Especially the success of maximal therapeutic efforts is questioned in this group. Therefore, this paper analyses prospective data of 1572 patients of a surgical intensive care unit with respect to age-related outcome. Besides the anticipated high proportion of concomitant diseases and an associated increased mortality of aged patients, there are no specific age-dependent differences. Old patients benefit from maximal therapeutic efforts to the same extent like younger patients. The authors conclude from the data that the patient's age per se should not influence the indication for intensive therapeutic interventions.