Evaluation of Patients Aged 65 and Over After Fall

Abstract

Objective: Patients aged 65 and older are less likely to be injured than youngers and older patients are more likely to have a fatal out come from their injuries. Physical reserves of the elderly patients were changing by the age. Injuries due to these changes adversely affect the outcome and prognosis of the geriatric patients. The main causes of injury in the geriatric population are falling, non-vehicle traffic accidents and burns. The most common causes of emergency services admittin are falls.

Method: Our study is a retrospective descriptive study. We investigate the 65 and over 65 years patients who were admitted to our emergency department with the complaint of fall from their own high on 01.12.2017 to 31.01.2018.

Results: Years of 65 and over of 98 patient were included to study. Patients were classified seven different injury areas as following: head, spinal (cervical-thoracal-lomber), thorax, abdomen, pelvic, upper extremity (shoulder, humerus, elbow, radius, ulna, hand) and lower extremity (femur, knee, tibia, fibula, foot). The most affected area of these groups as following in orderly: upper extremity (42), head (31), lower extremity (28), thorax (23), pelvis (20) and cervical spine (17).

Conclusion: Falls are the cause of %40 patients death in this age group. Minor mechanisms of injury can produce potentially lethal injury and complications. As with all trauma cases, the physical examination of the patients should be performed carefully in the geriatric group. In extremity traumas signs and complaints of geriatric patients should be the guide of lession.

Keywords

• Fall,geriatric trauma,upper extremity injury

References

1. 1- Jacobs DG. Special considerations in geriatric injury. Curr Opin Crit Care 2003; 9:535
2. 2- Sterling DA, O'Connor JA, Bonadies J. Geriatric falls: injury severity is high and disproportionate to mechanism. J Trauma 2001; 50:116
3. 3- Bergeron E, Clement J, Lavoie A, et al. A simple fall in the elderly: not so simple. J Trauma 2006; 60:268
4. 4- Labib N, Nouh T, Winocour S, et al. Severely injured geriatric population: morbidity, mortality, and risk factors. J Trauma 2011; 71:1908
5. 5- Callaway DW, Wolfe R. Geriatric trauma. Emerg Med Clin North Am 2007; 25:837
6. 6- Henry SM, Pollak AN, Jones AL, et al. Pelvic fracture in geriatric patients: a distinct clinical entity. J Trauma 2002; 53:15
7. 7- Kirkpatrick JB, Pearson J. Fatal cerebral injury in the elderly. J Am Geriatr Soc 1978; 26:489
8. 8- Goldstein JN, Thomas SH, Frontiero V, et al. Timing of fresh frozen plasma administration and rapid correction of coagulopathy in warfarin-related intracerebral hemorrhage. Stroke 2006; 37:151