[The quality of life of the elderly patient after a surgical intervention. I. Interventions on the colon].

Following a brief review of the literature on this topic, the paper analyses a series of geriatric undergoing surgery for cancer of the large intestine and controlled during follow-up over the past years. From the results obtained, the authors assessed the quality of life of these patients according to Masera and Esposito's classification, as a state of well-being, intermediate or illness: it was found that 78.7% were in a state of well-being, 10.3% were unchanged, 12.1% were in a state of illness, and only 6.9% had died. The authors therefore concluded that the quality of life in the majority of elderly patients undergoing surgery is good, thus encouraging surgeons to intervene.