Neurosurgery in the elderly patient

Objective. For government officials and health providers, elderly population - aged 65 and over, especially neurosurgical patient, represent a larger concern, an increasing problem not only for socio-economic reasons related to the medical act, but also for additional care requirements which should be done by the family and society, including rehabilitation facilities, occupational less better results to those over 85 years old; same symptoms especially pain 63 patients (19.38%), complications to 47 patients (14,46%) especially cardiac, renal and respiratory failures, also motor deficits, seizures, CSF fistula, mortality in 26 cases (8%), re-admissions in 45 cases (13.84%) less than 1 month after discharge. Conclusions. Old prejudices that old age is a contraindication for surgery have to be removed. Clinical and surgical decisions for neurosurgical procedures in the elderly are decisive for limiting reported morbidity and mortality rates. For life quality, realistic family and society expectations, several aspects should be considered for safe and effective results: careful patient selection on patient status, comorbidities and physiological reserve; neurosurgical pathology, urgency of the surgical procedure, the strategy of neurosurgical management based on advances in imaging and interventional radiology, minimal invasive neurosurgical procedures with significant preoperative and postoperative care. Good results could be obtained even in elderly people for chronic subdural hematoma, simple brain or spinal tumour, good grade aneurysm, trigeminal pain, vertebroplasty in spinal vertebral fractures, etc.