[Abdominal surgery in advanced age. Indications and prognosis exemplified by stomach, bile duct, colon and hernia surgery].

The increased risk of morbidity and mortality associated with abdominal surgery in the aged is determined by the number and severity of accompanying diseases and the emergency situation. Age per se is not a risk factor. Limitation of the risk requires an age-oriented treatment plan, which must take account of the specific problems of the geriatric patient in the pre-, intra-, and postoperative phases. Emergency operations should be avoided as far as possible. The aim of geriatric surgery is not merely to prolong life, but also to secure adequate quality of life. To accomplish this, it may occasionally be necessary to forgo surgical radicality in favor of a palliative procedure. The results of abdominal surgery in the elderly are presented on the basis of exemplary cases of stomach, biliary, colonic and hernial surgery.