RESUMEN
We reported the immediate recovery period of 705 consecutive patients post general or head-neck-breast surgery, 590 were looked after in the recovery room (RR) and 115 were admitted into the intensive care unit (ICU) right after surgery. Group I were "young" (aged 15-45 years), group II were "middle aged" (46-60 years) and group III were "elderly" (> 60 years). Twenty-seven per cent of the elderly patients were sent to the ICU, whereas, 8.4 per cent of the young and 14.7 of the middle-aged group were looked after in the ICU. In RR patients, the young group were in better ASA class and had significantly fewer underlying diseases than the middle-aged and elderly groups; the most common of which were hypertension, diabetes and anemia. Elderly patients spent a significantly longer time in the RR than the young group but the risk of complication was not different. The most frequent complication was pain and elderly patients more frequently suffered from pain than the young group. Post-anesthetic recovery score (after Aldrete and Kroulik) was lower in the elderly on arrival and at 15, 30, 60 minutes in the RR but there was no clinical significance. In ICU patients, the 3 groups' intubation rates were not different and although the duration of intermittent positive pressure ventilation and duration of stay in the ICU were longest in the elderly group, there was no statistically significant difference. The mortality rate was highest in the elderly. We concluded that elderly patients had a worse immediate recovery period.