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. 2021 Jul 23;29(1):100.
doi: 10.1186/s13049-021-00922-1.

Challenges in the PREHOSPITAL emergency management of geriatric trauma patients - a scoping review

Michael Eichinger  1 , Henry Douglas Pow Robb  2 , Cosmo Scurr  3 , Harriet Tucker  4 , Stefan Heschl  5 , George Peck  6
Affiliations

Challenges in the PREHOSPITAL emergency management of geriatric trauma patients - a scoping review

Michael Eichinger et al. Scand J Trauma Resusc Emerg Med. .

Abstract

Background: Despite a widely acknowledged increase in older people presenting with traumatic injury in western populations there remains a lack of research into the optimal prehospital management of this vulnerable patient group. Research into this cohort faces many uniqu1e challenges, such as inconsistent definitions, variable physiology, non-linear presentation and multi-morbidity. This scoping review sought to summarise the main challenges in providing prehospital care to older trauma patients to improve the care for this vulnerable group.

Methods and findings: A scoping review was performed searching Google Scholar, PubMed and Medline from 2000 until 2020 for literature in English addressing the management of older trauma patients in both the prehospital arena and Emergency Department. A thematic analysis and narrative synthesis was conducted on the included 131 studies. Age-threshold was confirmed by a descriptive analysis from all included studies. The majority of the studies assessed triage and found that recognition and undertriage presented a significant challenge, with adverse effects on mortality. We identified six key challenges in the prehospital field that were summarised in this review.

Conclusions: Trauma in older people is common and challenges prehospital care providers in numerous ways that are difficult to address. Undertriage and the potential for age bias remain prevalent. In this Scoping Review, we identified and discussed six major challenges that are unique to the prehospital environment. More high-quality evidence is needed to investigate this issue further.

Keywords: Geriatric trauma; Prehospital care; Trauma; Traumatic injuries; Triage.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
PRISMA Flow Diagram
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Distribution of different definitions for older age from the included studies
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Overview of the found challenges in the management of older patients with trauma in the prehospital field
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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