THE FEASIBILITY OF EPIDURAL-ANESTHESIA WITHOUT ENDOTRACHEAL INTUBATION FOR ABDOMINAL-SURGERY IN PATIENTS OVER 80 YEARS OF AGE

To evaluate the efficacy of a single application of epidural anesthesi a without endotracheal intubation for elderly patients over 80 years o f age, the data on 108 patients who underwent abdominal surgery were a nalyzed for the occurrence of postoperative complications. These patie nts were classified into two groups according to the type of anesthesi a performed: 66 received epidural anesthesia alone (Group I) and 42, g eneral anesthesia under endotracheal intubation (Group II). There were no lethal pulmonary complications in Group I, whereas 2 patients (4.8 %) died of respiratory failure resulting from pulmonary complications in Group II. The incidence of postoperative pulmonary complications in Group I was 6.1%, which was significantly lower than the 28.6% observ ed in Group II (p < 0.005). The occurrence of pulmonary complications in Group I was not related to the operating time, while pulmonary comp lications frequently occurred in patients who underwent lengthy operat ions in Group II. These findings suggest that a single application of epidural anesthesia would improve the overall safety in performing abd ominal surgery in elderly patients over 80 years of age.