Do doctors put a patient age limit on what procedures they do?

debodun

debodun

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way upstate in New York, USA
My 86-year-old friend of mine is experiencing excruciating knee pain to the point she is practically an invalid and it is causing her heart to fibrillate. She told me that her doctor said she is not a candidate for knee surgery. He also will not recommend a colonoscopy. I just wondered if the doctor's reticence could be due to her age and if there is an age cut-off for medical procedures.
 

I may be wrong, but isn't there a maximum age where they no longer feel it is needed to get a regular colonoscopy or mammogram? I may have to investigate.
As for surgery, I agree that sometimes age and other health issues are needed to be considered before they decide to continue. My uncle also died not long after surgery to repair a broken hip. He also had Parkinsons, so I am not sure if that was a contributing factor. He was in his 80s at the time
 
I sometimes think that the elderly are mere "crash-test-dummies" / practice, for surgery/surgeons . If they do encounter a setback , and or die? The doc's say well......he/she was after all 80-90 whatever.

Don't want to reopen the [they care/they don't care] debate but. IMO these days a doctor they truly cares is about as rare as hens teeth.
 
A colonoscopy requires the use of Propofol. I suppose it is riskier with age. Propofol is what caused Joan Rivers' death at 81 during an endoscopy. And also Michael Jackson at 50 (although his doctor's malpractice contributed).
https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/joan-rivers-death-revealed/story?id=25264318
I think most doctors would not want to replace knees or hips after a certain age - both because of limited benefit and increased risk.
Yes, some things are better left alone - even younger than 86.
 
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I am now 76 and in the past 6 years I have elected to get some needed surgery out of the way while I am still able to handle the operations and rehabilitations. The surgeons did ask for a check up with a cardiologist first because I take meds for BP and cholesterol levels.

I was amazed at the advanced age of some of the other patients and at their determination to co-operate with the post op requirements. I think it is not so much the age as the attitude that counts. If people think that surgery will remedy their ills without effort on their behalf, then the results are unlikely to be beneficial. If they are very pain adverse the procedure could be so traumatic for them that they might regress emotionally and mentally.

Surgeons do not have to take on every case and patients are free to seek a second opinion if knocked back by their first selection.
 
My 85 year old aunt's doctor said she's a good candidate for a second knee replacement. She's had one successful replacement, but the other knee is giving out on her now so she's fallen several times. She's pretty healthy otherwise.

I have seen doctors document in charts that a patient isn't a candidate for a procedure due to other medical problems, and some of those patients were relatively young. Mostly what I see is that it's the state health more than age that most doctors go by.
 
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It happened to me 2.5 months ago regarding my broken shoulder when my Orthopedic doctor said, "You have multiple fractures in your proximal humerus but I wouldn't recommend surgery at your age (I'm still in my 60s) and also your fractures are in alignment. He also has other red flags.

I still don't have full mobility (but much improved) and I still have a lot of pain when trying to lay flat on my back in bed and when doing physical therapy exercises and when trying to reach up. I read that if you don't heal quickly enough you can get arthritis in it. Yes, I'm concern.

I was going to go to another doctor for a "second opinion" but Medicare B won't cover it unless I'm already scheduled for surgery. I wonder if I can just switch doctors and not call it a "second opinion"? But that doctor probably wouldn't want to take me on since he's in the business of surgery and won't make big money off of me since I'm so "old".
 
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Thank you Warrigal but they tell me the x-ray shows my fractures have all healed. The pain, apparently, is coming from the soft issue or muscles according to my daughter. There is also a popping feeling going on in there. My Uber driver was the one to tell me that his doctor told him it was air pockets. At first my physical therapist said it's not pain, its brain receptors sending signals. I told him "No. I know what pain is and this is pain". He dismissed that and repeated his brain explanation....and told me to stop grimacing when doing my exercises.

I canceled my next appointment and told the receptionist it was because I'm in a lot of pain (I don't take meds but just started with 2 tylenol every). Then my PT emailed me a lengthy apology for "dismissing my pain and pushing me beyond my tolerance level" and that he believes it's pain in the soft tissue. I think he did some research because he never mentioned soft tissue before. I made an appointment with him today because I appreciated his apology. We'll see.
 
I had a procedure done early yesterday morning. The Anesthesiologist told me that he would be using Propofol. My blood oxygen level was 98% going into surgery. I woke easily and was ready to leave in a half hour after awakening.

From what I have read, Propofol is the drug of choice for putting patients to sleep for a simple surgery. There are other drugs that are more potent that are used for longer surgeries.

Someday in the future, I would hope safer drugs would be developed to put patients asleep.
 
In 2005, I had a fall and broke the middle finger of my left hand. Good thing I am right handed. Even after surgery, it never healed properly and the finger is still bent and I have no mobility in that finger - all the joints seem frozen. After the surgery I learned that the orthopedic surgeon that I consulted did not actually do the surgery - he let his intern do it as a training practice.
finger.jpg
 
debodun said:
In 2005, I had a fall and broke the middle finger of my left hand. Good thing I am right handed. Even after surgery, it never healed properly and the finger is still bent and I have no mobility in that finger - all the joints seem frozen. After the surgery I learned that the orthopedic surgeon that I consulted did not actually do the surgery - he let his intern do it as a training practice.
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Sounds like a nerve issue. If the novice doctor didn’t damage the nerve, it may be able to be repaired.
 
Personally, I never liked going to sleep for surgeries, which yesterday was number 14. Most of my surgeries have been injuries from playing sports. I did have appendicitis once, but the others were all sports related.

I have been told by different Anesthesiologists that being put to sleep kills brain cells and the good Lord knows that I can’t afford to lose anymore of them.
 
debodun said:
My 86-year-old friend of mine is experiencing excruciating knee pain to the point she is practically an invalid and it is causing her heart to fibrillate. She told me that her doctor said she is not a candidate for knee surgery. He also will not recommend a colonoscopy. I just wondered if the doctor's reticence could be due to her age and if there is an age cut-off for medical procedures.
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Unfortunately they do, my aunt in her late 80's was refused to do gallbladder surgery because of her age. A friends husband had heart issues, they told her to take him home to die. I'm hearing they won't even treat cancer? It's the insurance companies deciding this.
 

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