[Intensive Care in Elderly Patients - Consideration of Age-Related Organ Dysfunction and Vulnerability].

The physiology of aging must be understood first in order to detect pathophysiological deviations early on and to interact accordingly. To date, there exist no guidelines or recommendations, nor randomized controlled trials in the field of geriatric intensive care. The mortality of elderly ICU patients is not determined solely by age, but by the age-physiological decrease of the functional reserves and the age-related vulnerability factors. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.