Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Dec;74(6):1977-1983.
doi: 10.1007/s13304-022-01337-y. Epub 2022 Jul 28.

All elderly are fragile, but some are more fragile than others: an epidemiological study from one of the busiest trauma centers in Italy

Virdis Francesco  1 , Bini Roberto  2 , Cannavale Giulia  2 , Cioffi Stefano Piero  2 , Altomare Michele  2 , Spota Andrea  2 , Chiara Osvaldo  2 , Cimbanassi Stefania  2
Affiliations

All elderly are fragile, but some are more fragile than others: an epidemiological study from one of the busiest trauma centers in Italy

Virdis Francesco et al. Updates Surg. 2022 Dec.

Abstract

As the older population increases, the number of elderly accessing the emergency department following a trauma increases accordingly. High-level trauma enters together with the identification of predictive parameters for poor outcome and mortality, may result in a death rate improvement of up to 30% in this group of patients. This study analyzes the epidemiology of major trauma admissions at Niguarda Trauma Center in Milan, Italy, focusing on the geriatric population and aiming to discriminate the trauma outcomes in the range of population between 65 and 75 years old (Senior Adult) and to compare it with the outcomes among people over 75 years old (Elderly). The variables analyzed included mortality, mechanism of injury, body district injured, Injury Severity Score (ISS), Trauma Injury Severity Score (TRISS), Geriatric Trauma Score (GTO), and outcome. Head trauma remains the main cause of mortality with falls and road accidents being the most common mechanism of injury. Frailty and associated use of anticoagulant and antiplatelet therapy increased the risk of death by 42%. The subdivision of the elder patients into two groups (65-75 and > 75) showed a difference in the probability of death and effective mortality rate.

Keywords: Elderly; Geriatric trauma; Trauma; trauma score.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Virdis F, Martin M, Khan M, Reccia I, Gallo G, Podda M et al (2021) Abdominal Trauma in the Elderly. Emerg laparosc surg elder frail patient. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-79990-8_20 - DOI
    1. Demetriades D, Karaiskakis M, Velmahos G, Alo K, Newton E, Murray J et al (2002) Effect on outcome of early intensive management of geriatric trauma patients. Br J Surg 89(10):1319–1322 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Demetriades D, Martin M, Salim A, Rhee P, Brown C, Chan L (2005) The effect of trauma center designation and trauma volume on outcome in specific severe injuries. Ann Surg 242(4):512–517 (discussion 7-9) - DOI - PubMed - PMC
    1. Orimo H (2006) Reviewing the definition of elderly. Nihon Ronen Igakkai Zasshi 43(1):27–34 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Levine ME (2013) Modeling the rate of senescence: can estimated biological age predict mortality more accurately than chronological age? J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci 68(6):667–674 - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources