[Care and prognosis of elderly people in intensive care].

The absence of formal documentation on the benefits of intensive care for elderly people explains the lack of standardised practices while their numbers are increasing in intensive care departments. The improved prognosis of acute pathologiesjustifyingtheir admission to intensive care units requires a multi-disciplinary approach and an optimisation of all the care structures upstream and downstream of a stay in intensive care. This must be based on the collective definition of the care pathway for these elderly patients requiring instead of in an intensive care unit.