Older Adult Falls in Emergency Medicine

Características epidemiológicas e distribuição espacial das quedas em idosos atendidos no serviço pré-hospitalar

“…The most common reason for care was fall from own height. The most affected body part was the head, followed by the lower limbs, which is in line with the results found in another study (Carpenter et al, 2019). The most frequent mechanism of injury in adult trauma results from falls from a small height, particularly in older people, which can lead to more serious consequences, such as hip fracture, and be reflected in the complexity of care provided in hospitals and rehabilitation services (Christofoletti et al, 2006).…”

Providing care for older adults in the Emergency Department: expert clinical recommendations from the European Task Force on Geriatric Emergency Medicine

“…Also, several sets of quality indicators have been published in the USA [16,17], UK [18] and Germany [19], as well as text books that have been written on this topic [20,21]. Furthermore, specific guidelines and reviews on typical geriatric syndromes and problems for the ED have emerged [22][23][24]. Our initiative is a first attempt to translate the increasing knowledge in Geriatric Emergency Medicine into guidance for professionals working in Europe.…”

The Dilemma of Falls in Older Persons: Never Forget to Investigate the Syncope

“…The distinction between an accidental fall from a syncope remains an area of great uncertainty, in particular in older persons [1,[3][4][5]. Despite the well-codified management of syncope in the ED or during a short observation period [1,[13][14][15][16][17][18], the research on falls is limited in quality and quantity [22]. The coexistence of the two conditions is often missed or not adequately handled.…”