Trauma: Geriatric Occult Trauma

Course overview

Trauma is the fifth leading cause of death in the elderly and accounts for 25% of all admissions in the U.S. Twelve percent of elderly Americans go to EDs each year for injury-related visits; there is no doubt that the number of injuries will continue to rise as this population increases. Emergency providers always face challenges in the assessment of geriatric patients compared to younger adults. When it comes to evaluation of injury, a major challenge may be diagnosing a significant injury that is not readily apparent. In this activity, we discuss and provide examples of certain injuries in the elderly that can be serious but not always easily recognized. After completing this activity, providers/members of the healthcare team should be able to: recall that age is an independent risk factor for traumatic injuries; consider age-related differences in presentations of traumatic injuries; recognize that certain injuries in the elderly can be difficult to identify; assess appropriate use of imaging to adequately evaluate the injured elderly patient; and compare the reliability of decision tools to evaluate younger injured patients compared to the geriatric population.