Trauma care and management in the elderly: a review study

Background: Traumas are among the most important human health threats. In people over 65, trauma is the fifth cause of death. In the trauma of elderly people, morbidity and mortality rates are higher compared to younger people. Due to increase in the elderly population and trauma risks and complications, timely implementation of measures for the treatment, management and prevention of consequences of the trauma are required. On the other hand, physiological changes and the presence of several diseases in the elderly have provided other challenges for the management of trauma in the elderly. Consequently, a different approach must be taken to care the elderly with trauma. The purpose of this study is to examine the management of trauma in the elderly.Materials & Methods: This study is a review article based on the research question. A search was done on Iranmedex, Google scholar, SID, PubMed and Scopus. In this search, full-text studies published in Farsi and English in the period of 2008 to 2018, and their titles had Farsi and English words of trauma, care and management of trauma in the elderly were considered. It remained 10 articles after excluding repetitive and non-related studies. After qualitative evaluation on studies, they were examined and the findings were extracted.Results: The findings indicate proper triage, low blood pressure and low level perfusion diagnosis, initial monitoring and recovery improve survival in this age group. Performing orthopedic surgeries and early fixation also reduce their mortality. Decreasing the incidence of accidents in the elderly, educating rescue and treatment groups, and emphasizing the special conditions of the injured elderly are also helpful. Education on using various equipment, concentration during work and environmental protection also reduce the occurrence of domestic trauma.Conclusion: Given that trauma in the elderly has more complications, and care, different treatments and management of trauma, in general, can decrease the damage and dependence of this sensitive stratum, it is recommended that pay more attention to the care and managing the types of traumas in the elderly and provide the necessary training to therapeutic caregivers.

کلیدواژه ها:

Management ، Trauma ، Elderly ، Review Research