Geriatric Emergencies An Issue Of Emergency Medicine Clinics Of North America

This issue of Emergency Medicine Clinics focuses on Geriatric Emergencies. Articles include: Recent Trends in Geriatric Emergency Medicine, Resuscitation of the Elderly, Pharmacology in the Geriatric Patient, Trauma and Falls in the Elderly, Sepsis and Infectious Emergencies in the Elderly, Evaluation of the Geriatric Patient with Chest Pain, Evaluation of Dyspnea in the Elderly, Abdominal Pain in the Geriatric Patient, Neurologic Emergencies in the Elderly, Evaluation of Syncope, Altered Mental Status and Delirium, and more!

This issue of Emergency Medicine Clinics, guest edited by Drs. Robert Anderson, Phil Magidson and Danya Khoujah, focuses on Emergencies in the Older Adult. This is one of four issues each year selected by the series consulting editor, Dr. Amal Mattu. Articles in this issue include, but are not limited to: Trends in Geriatric Emergency Medicine, Pharmacologic Considerations in Older Adults, Geriatric Trauma, Resuscitation of Older Adults, Acute Brain Failure, Chronic Brain Failure, Cardiopulmonary Emergencies, ACS in Older Adults, Abdominal Emergencies, Genitourinary Emergencies, Infections in Older Adults and Elder Abuse.

This issue of Emergency Medicine Clinics focuses on Geriatric Emergencies. Articles include: Recent Trends in Geriatric Emergency Medicine, Resuscitation of the Elderly, Pharmacology in the Geriatric Patient, Trauma and Falls in the Elderly, Sepsis and Infectious Emergencies in the Elderly, Evaluation of the Geriatric Patient with Chest Pain, Evaluation of Dyspnea in the Elderly, Abdominal Pain in the Geriatric Patient, Neurologic Emergencies in the Elderly, Evaluation of Syncope, Altered Mental Status and Delirium, and more!

Care for older adults in Emergency Departments (EDs) has historically been focused on acute medical conditions with little emphasis on geriatric-specific issues. In 2010, emergency departments (EDs) throughout the nation saw almost 130 million patients, 15% of whom were 65 or older. The number of older adults who visit an ED has doubled in the last decade and continues to grow rapidly. Older adults receiving care in an ED are highly likely to be admitted to the hospital, much more so than their younger counterparts. Preventing a hospital admission saves older adults from frequently encountered adverse events, including hospital-acquired delirium, functional status impairment, cognitive loss, and nursing home admission. It is unknown how many older adults are hospitalized for reasons other than acute medical illness, such as functional decline, polypharmacy, progressive dementia, caregiver stress, or unstable living situation. These non-emergent conditions are rarely addressed during a typical ED visit due to lack of resources, significant patient volumes, and the need for rapid turnover of care spaces. The predominant management strategy of emergency physicians to handle these important but not imminently life-threatening geriatric issues is to recommend hospital admission. Northwestern has pioneered the Geriatric Emergency Department through the creation of the Geriatric Emergency Department Innovation model (GEDI), with goals to prevent admissions for older adults by assessing and meeting their geriatric-specific, non-acute care needs in the ED. The GEDI model at Northwestern centers on a multi-disciplinary curriculum composed of clinical, didactic, and practical arms developed by emergency medicine and geriatrics educational experts. In this title, we will present case studies of older adults seen in the Emergency Department through the GEDI model and discuss means of identifying/screening for, diagnosing, and treating geriatric syndromes seen in the emergent care of the older adult patient. In addition, there will be a set of concise “take-home points” for each case study that will be easy to commit to memory and implement in clinical care of older adults. As the number of seniors seeking emergent care will continue to increase, the ED setting must become responsive to geriatric-specific needs. This book will provide a variety of models detailing how to offer comprehensive, state-of-the-art, optimal care for managing the full range of geriatric syndromes that regularly present in the emergent care setting.

The elderly represent the fastest growing segment of the population in developed countries, reflected in the patient population presenting to EDs and hospitals. These patients more often than not have greater co-morbidities, more complicated workups and utilize more laboratory and radiologic services. This text is designed to teach emergency physicians how best to care for this specific demographic of patients. It addresses physiologic changes, high-risk conditions, and atypical presentations associated with elderly patients in the ED that result in frequent misdiagnosis or delays in diagnosis. It instructs the readers how best to care for elderly patients in order to minimize morbidity and mortality, addressing some of the difficult psychosocial issues that confront health care providers that care for elderly patients, such as psychiatric disease and end-of-life care. The utility of this text is not limited to emergency physicians, but it should be useful to all health care providers involved in the treatment of elderly patients with acute medical or surgical conditions.

In this issue of Clinics in Geriatric Medicine, guest editors Drs. Maura Kennedy and Shan Liu bring their considerable expertise to the topic of Geriatric Emergency Care. Top experts in the field cover critical topics or concepts in geriatric emergency medicine and topics for which there is new research, including guidance on “geriatricizing the ED and ED observation unit, caring for persons with dementia, and examining the intersection of DEI and care of an aging population. Contains 13 relevant, practice-oriented topics including the aging process: physiologic changes and frailty; elder abuse and neglect: recognition and management in the emergency department; best practices in end of life and palliative care in the ED; falls and other trauma in the older adult; and more. Provides in-depth clinical reviews on geriatric emergency care, offering actionable insights for clinical practice. Presents the latest information on this timely, focused topic under the leadership of experienced editors in the field. Authors synthesize and distill the latest research and practice guidelines to create clinically significant, topic-based reviews.

This issue of Clinics in Geriatric Medicine features expert clinical reviews on Geriatric Emergency Medicine which includes current information on topics such as palliative medicine and emergency care, alternative management strategies, transitions of care, the emergency department observation unit and the older patient, generalized weakness, altered mental status, trauma management, acute pain management, acute visual changes, orthopedic emergencies, dizziness, palpitations, acute stroke syndromes, abuse and neglect, and electrolyte and endocrine emergencies.