Steven Shafer
Publication Details
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The pharmacology of anesthetic drugs in elderly patients.
Anesthesiol Clin North America. 2000; (1): 1-29, v
Elderly patients are more sensitive to anesthetic drugs than younger patients. This increased sensitivity has a pharmacokinetic basis if the dose produces a higher drug concentration in an elderly patient than in a younger patient. The increased sensitivity has a pharmacodynamic basis if the same concentration produces a more profound drug effect in elderly patients. This article reviews the mechanisms of increased sensitivity of elderly patients to opioids, hypnotics, amnestica, and muscle relaxants.
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