Outcomes of trauma in centenarians

We present the first study specifically investigating outcomes of centenarian (age>100 years) trauma patients.

We conducted a retrospective cohort study over a 2-year period using data from patients' notes. Inclusion criteria were: admission to Poole Hospital, age of 100 years old or greater and history of sustaining trauma.

We used the hospital CaMIS database to identify patients aged 100 years and over who had incurred an injury. 24 patients met the entry criteria for the study: accounting for 26 admission episodes. 23 patients were female and 13 had sustained a fractured neck of femur. 10 patients underwent surgery and the rest were managed non-operatively. There were five inpatient deaths and the majority of the discharged patients returned to their original place of residence following treatment and rehabilitation. Overall mortality at 1 year was 10 out of 24.

Our increasingly elderly population is leading to a growing burden upon the NHS. Admission of the extreme elderly trauma patient is becoming more commonplace and presents us with difficult management decisions. Orthopaedic/geriatric collaborative care is now the norm and should continue to develop and improve in the future.

The extreme elderly should be afforded the same consideration for operative treatment as younger patients and that age alone should not be relied upon as a determinant of treatment and management in these patients.