LAUSR

To the Editor: According to the Chinese National Bureau of Statistics in October 1999, the population aged ≥60 years reached 10% of the total population, indicating that China was entering into an aging society. By the end of 2017, the population aged ≥60 years was 240,900,000, accounting for 17.3% of the total population. With the rapidly aging population, biliary diseases in elderly patients have become frequent in China, with a morbidity rate of 8–11%. Due to lowered stress response, defense ability, and immunity, biliary diseases in elderly patients are characterized by an increase in coexisting diseases, rapid progression, poor surgical tolerance, high surgical risk, frequent postoperative complications, and high mortality. Thus, it is important to explore effective treatment methods in elderly patients with biliary diseases. Based on our clinical experience in the treatment of elderly patients with biliary diseases,[1] along with previous studies, this report presented the current status of surgical treatment of elderly patients with biliary diseases in China.[2]