Postoperative care and analgesia
There are many reasons for delayed recovery, but, usually, it is due to residual effects of anaesthetic agents/premedication. There are guidelines for recognizing and managing these cases. Emergence delirium may be dangerous, and it should be recognized and treated as an emergency. Elderly patients may have impaired hearing and vision. Spectacles and hearing aids should be given back to them as soon as possible in the recovery area to limit disorientation. Pain and its intensity may be difficult to recognize and quantify in the elderly. Increased inter-individual variability in the elderly means that titration to effect rather than a fixed dosage is essential, and when the mental status of the patient allows it, patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) is quite appropriate.