Patterns of injury in geriatric falls.
Falls are the most common cause of trauma in the elderly. Data regarding patterns of injury following geriatric falls are scant. We conducted a retrospective review of falls in patients aged 65 years and older seen at a trauma center over a nine year period. Two thousand eighty three patients met the inclusion criteria. Hip fracture proved to be the dominant injury (55%), 98% of which were isolated. Five hundred seven (21%) were non-hip fractures. Two hundred thirty eight patients (10%) sustained traumatic intracranial hemorrhage. Chest injury was the next most common injury type (6.7%) with rib fractures comprising 86% of this subgroup. A pattern of association between intracranial hemorrhage and cervical spine fractures was identified. Intra-abdominal injuries are rare.
Department of Surgery, Hospital of Saint Raphael, New Haven, USA.
Peter
P
Ojo
Judy
J
O'Connor
Donald
D
Kim
Kenneth
K
Ciardiello
John
J
Bonadies
D000058:Accidental Falls / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D050723:Fractures, Bone / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D015601:Injury Severity Score; D020198:Intracranial Hemorrhage, Traumatic / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology*