[Preoperative problems in the elderly woman. Risk groups, urgency of operation, preoperative diagnosis in general practice and in the hospital].

The risk of intraoperative complications has been considerably reduced through the introduction of new operation- and anaesthetic techniques. Further reduction of intraoperative complications can be achieved only through careful and complete preoperative preparation of the patient which can be done by the patient's personal physician on an outpatient basis. With age the frequency of organ dysfunction increases. Among these disorders cardiovascular and respiratory deficiencies represent the greatest risk for the patient. From the point of view of the anaesthesiologist there exist no differentiation as "small" and "major" anaesthesia. Therefore differences in the preoperative preparation of the patient can only be made regarding the urgency of the operation. In deciding whether a high-risk patient should be operated on or not, the risk of non-surgical treatment has to be taken into consideration. If, however, the operation becomes absolutely necessary, with sufficient preoperative preparation and good anaesthetic management the intraoperative risk in elderly women can be kept to a minimum.