Comparison of adult versus elderly patients with abdominal trauma: A retrospective database analysis

The growing geriatric population has specific medical characteristics that should be taken into account especially in trauma setting. There is little evidence on management of abdominal trauma in the elderly and this article compares the management and outcomes of younger and older patients in order to highlight fields of improvement.

We conducted a retrospective database analysis from two European university hospitals selecting patients admitted for abdominal injury and extracted the following data: epidemiological data, mechanisms of the trauma, vital signs, blood tests, injuries, applied treatments, trauma scores and outcomes. We compared to different age group (16-64 and 65+ years old) using uni- and multivariable analysis.

1181 patients were included for statistical analysis. The main mechanisms of injury in both group were traffic accidents and in the elderly group, falls were more frequent. Both had similar Abbreviated Injury Score except for the thoracic injuries, which was higher in the elderly group. We reported a death rate of 13% in the elderly group and 7% in the younger group. However, multivariable analysis did not report age as an independent predictor of mortality. The management including surgery, blood transfusion and need for intensive care were similar in both groups.

Although elderly patients suffering abdominal trauma have an almost two fold higher mortality, their management is quite similar leading to an important point of improvement in regards to triage and lower threshold for more aggressive management and surveillance. Age itself does not seem to be a reliable predictor of mortality. Introducing a frailty score when taking care of elderly trauma patients could improve the outcomes.