Acute Care Surgery in the Geriatric Patient Population: General Principles

Abstract

The pillars of trauma surgery, emergency general surgery, surgical critical care, and surgical rescue are the backbone of acute care surgery. With a wide range of pathologies encountered, acute care surgery is a time-sensitive discipline necessitating a rapid, methodical, and accurate evaluation process. With our aging population, the acute care surgeon has also had to adapt to apply these principles to an ever-growing geriatric population. The geriatric population, defined as those aged 65 and older, is the most rapidly growing segment of the US population. Access to expeditious, quality, emergent surgical care is paramount to achieve the desired results for our elderly patients who lack many physiologic reserves. It is crucial that the evolution of this specialty persists to adapt to this ever-growing cohort of complex patients. This text provides the foundation to achieve the necessary transformation to better care for the geriatric patient requiring emergency surgical care.