At Colorado State Hospital, the patient population is over 6,000; 1,700 of these are over the age of 70. In this large geriatric population, many of the problems and complications of the aged are encountered.
In order to evaluate the results following herniorrhaphy in the aged population, a survey of all herniorrhaphies done during the past 10 years in patients over 70 was made. Ages ranged from 70 to 93, with an average age of 77 years.
During the past 10 years, we have performed herniorrhaphies on 106 patients over 70; 98, or 93%, were male, and 8, or 7%, were female. The results obtained strongly support our contention that age alone is no contraindication to herniorrhaphy. Herniorrhaphy should be performed as soon as practicable; the patient should be in his best physical condition.
Electrocardiographic evaluation and medical consultation were obtained on all patients in this series; some were in