K. Singh Sahni, M.D., F.A.C.S.
Neurosurgical Associates, P.C., Richmond, VA
10710 Midlothian Turnpike, Suite 138
Richmond, VA 23235
804-330-4990
http://www.trigeminalneuralgiava.com/dr-sahni.htm
Transcript: The role of age in surgery selection
I have not used age as a limiting factor of what procedure I would do. Age per se is not going to make the decision. It is as I mentioned earlier, the medical status of the condition.
In this day and age, it varies. You can have a person who’s in his fifties who’s had three bypass procedures or may have had some liver problems and you may have had a person in their eighties who is perfectly healthy.
The oldest individual that I have done a microvascular decompression on is ninety-four. Now ninety-four is not unheard of for glycerol injections or the other ablative procedures. Microvascular decompression is most people will not do that. Now this was an individual who previously already had glycerol injections and did indeed had very good results but had recurrence. His close friend was a physician and was very familiar with the procedure and encouraged the patient to have it. That patient lived on for another five years, pain-free, and then died of a totally unrelated condition.
So age is not necessarily the limiting factor. It’s your health, your medical condition, and what medications you’re on.