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The Management of the Multiply Injured Elderly Patient

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Book cover The Poly-Traumatized Patient with Fractures

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Abstract

The elderly can sustain serious injuries in both high-energy and low-energy trauma, and with an increasingly elderly population the incidence of these injuries is increasing. As patients age their mortality from trauma increases and the degree of injury that causes death is less than in younger patients. However older patients that survive fare as well as younger patients. Despite this there is still evidence of ageism with older patients being undertriaged and treated less aggressively than younger patients. Falls account for a high proportion of severe injuries in the elderly. The prevalence of high-energy injuries following motor vehicle accidents is relatively low but elderly pedestrians are at particular risk of injury.

The epidemiology of multiple fractures is discussed and it is demonstrated that in the elderly 8.5 % of index fractures are associated with other fractures. The spectrum of open fractures in the elderly is examined and compared with younger patients. The incidence of open fractures in the ≥65 year patients is higher than in the <65 year patients although the distribution of fractures is not dissimilar. Elderly patients sustain severe open fractures as a result of lower energy injuries than younger patients.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, Old Dalkeith Road, Edinburgh, EH16 4SU, UK

    Charles M. Court-Brown MD, FRCS Ed (Orth) & N. Clement MRCS

Authors
  1. Charles M. Court-Brown MD, FRCS Ed (Orth)
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  2. N. Clement MRCS
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Charles M. Court-Brown MD, FRCS Ed (Orth) .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Trauma, Hand, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Aachen Medical Center, Aachen, Germany

    Hans-Christoph Pape

  2. Florida Orthopaedic Institute, Temple Terrace, Florida, USA

    Roy Sanders

  3. Orthopedic Medicine Specialists, Arlington, Texas, USA

    Joseph Borrelli, Jr.

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Court-Brown, C.M., Clement, N. (2016). The Management of the Multiply Injured Elderly Patient. In: Pape, HC., Sanders, R., Borrelli, Jr., J. (eds) The Poly-Traumatized Patient with Fractures. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-47212-5_15

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-47212-5_15

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-662-47211-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-662-47212-5

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

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