Abstract
The number of geriatric patients presenting with traumatic injuries or emergency surgery diagnoses continues to rise. This aging patient population makes specialized treatment of geriatric trauma and surgical patients increasingly important, and the challenges are unique. Much literature has been published examining the in-hospital, post-discharge, and long-term outcomes for this subset of patients and demonstrates that there are higher morbidity and mortality rates. However, there are modifiable factors that can lead to improved outcomes including early recognition of surgical and traumatic disease, aggressive interventions, including timely operation, hypervigilance to recognize and treat in-hospital complications, multidisciplinary care teams, specialized pathways, and the development of high-volume geriatric trauma and surgical centers. More resources and outcome studies will be needed as the geriatric patient population continues to grow.
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Hwang, F., Tyrie, L.S., Goulet, N. (2023). Outcomes in Geriatric Trauma and Emergency General Surgery. In: Petrone, P., Brathwaite, C.E. (eds) Acute Care Surgery in Geriatric Patients. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-30651-8_61
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-30651-8_61
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