Geriatric Pharmacology

Aging involves changes in several physiologic processes that lead to decreased volumes of distribution, slowed metabolism, and increased end-organ sensitivity to anesthetics. These changes generally result in increased potency. Elderly patients require less anesthetic medication, but the true extent of reduction is underappreciated and less uniformly practiced. The impact of potential anesthetic drug overdosing on intermediate and long-term outcomes is not fully appreciated. It may be necessary to consider age as a continuous variable for anesthetic drug dosing in older patients rather than treating adult versus elderly patients. Further pharmacologic studies are required in people more than 85 years old.