RESEARCH ARTICLE
Low Energy Trauma in Older Persons: Where to Next?
Mellick Chehade*, 1, Tiffany K Gill2, Renuka Visvanathan3, 4
Article Information
Identifiers and Pagination:
Year: 2015Volume: 9
Issue: Suppl 1: M12
First Page: 361
Last Page: 366
Publisher ID: TOORTHJ-9-361
DOI: 10.2174/1874325001509010361
Article History:
Received Date: 21/02/2015Revision Received Date: 26/04/2015
Acceptance Date: 18/5/2015
Electronic publication date: 31/7/2015
Collection year: 2015

open-access license: This is an open access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted, non-commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly cited.
Abstract
The global population is increasing rapidly with older persons accounting for the greatest proportion. Associated with this rise is an increased rate of injury, including polytrauma, for which low energy falls has become the main cause. The resultant growing impact on trauma resources represents a major burden to the health system. Frailty, with its related issues of cognitive dysfunction and sarcopenia, is emerging as the unifying concept that relates both to the initial event and subsequent outcomes. Strategies to better assess and manage frailty are key to both preventing injury and improving trauma outcomes in the older population and research that links measures of frailty to trauma outcomes will be critical to informing future directions and health policy. The introduction of “Geriatric Emergency Departments” and the development of “Fracture Units” for frail older people will facilitate increased involvement of Geriatricians in trauma care and aid in the education of other health disciplines in the core principles of geriatric assessment and management. Collectively these should lead to improved care and outcomes for both survivors and those requiring end of life decisions and palliation.