Surgery in the elderly patient: a systematic review of the literature

Abstract Brazil is going through a period of demographic transition characterized by an increase in life expectancy. Concomitantly, the number of surgeries performing on the elderly has also increased. The present study seeks to understand this process by means of a systematic review on academic databases in the last 10 years. From this analysis, it is shown that there is a need for knowledge of the legal framework and the ethical and bioethical aspects by health professionals to perform humanized care directed to this new patient profile.