ACTA FAC. MED. NAISS. 2005; 22(4):195-202

   Original article

Ivan Pešić, Aleksandar Karanikolić
Surgical Clinic, Clinical Center of Niš

The aim of the study was to examine specific characteristics of surgical treatment of gastrointestinal segment diseases in geriatric patients. The study involved 73 patients in the study group and 85 patients in the control group. In the study group, 29 patients suffered from chronic heart diseases and 18 from hypertension. The examination revealed that gastric carcinoma was more frequent in elderly patients (23.28%) compared to controls (10.59%). Bleeding gastric ulcer (16.43%), perforated gastric ulcer (12.30%) and perforated duodenal ulcer (12.30%) were the most common pathologic condition of the upper gastrointestinal segment in elderly patients. The most common subsequent postoperative complications in the study group occurred in the cardiovascular (12.50%) and respiratory (2.88%) system. The most frequent surgical complications included: wound infections (25.14%), seroma in the wound (9.67%), and anastomotic dehiscence (5.48%). In the control group, the most frequent postoperative complications were cardiovascular (7.05%), whilst respiratory ones occurred in 1.17%. Surgical complications occurred at the following frequency: seroma in the wound (5.88%), wound infections (4.70%), and anastomotic dehiscence (2.36%). The overall postoperative mortality was higher in the study group (24.6%) compared to the control one (8.23%). Geriatric patients, due to the occurrence of the great number of chronic diseases and frequent postoperative complications, require a carefully planned preoperative treatment and intensive postoperative care.

Key words: gastrointestinal segment, elderly patients