1st Edition

Acute Medicine in the Frail Elderly

By Henry Woodford, James George Copyright 2013

    Frail older people now contribute the majority of the acute emergency take both medical and surgical. Despite this there is often a lack of confidence and knowledge among doctors and nurses in treating older people in the Emergency Department and on Emergency Assessment Units.From the Preface Emergency care of frail older people is challenging but very rewarding. Older patients tend to be complex and therefore their assessment needs to be more extensive and include comprehensive geriatric assessment. It is the extras in their assessment that are not usually needed in younger patients, such as cognitive, functional and social evaluations that make the difference in achieving a better outcome. This book describes the key features of high quality care for frail elderly patients in acute hospital settings. With chapters on assessment and the characteristic non-specific ways that patients tend to present (such as 'confusion', 'collapse query cause' and 'off legs'), this practical guide is ideal to have on-hand. As well as common medical and surgical conditions, it also covers medication management, elder abuse, pressure ulcers and hypothermia, including the physiological changes seen in ageing and ways to define frail patients. Tables, diagrams and images are ideal for quick reference, and key points are summarised throughout the text to aid comprehension, providing doctors, nurses and therapists with both background and essential information to provide the excellent acute care older people deserve.

    Foreword. Preface. About the authors. List of abbreviations. Introduction. Assessment. 'Off legs': non-specific functional decline. Atypical presentations. Malnutrition. Dehydration. Electrolyte disturbances. Constipation. Incontinence. Pressure ulcers. Hypothermia. Confusion. Delirium. Dementia. 'Collapse query cause': falls and blackouts. Falls. Syncope. Epilepsy. Surgical care. Abdominal pain. Trauma. Infection. Sepsis. Pneumonia. Influenza. Urinary tract infection. Clostridium difficile infection. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Infectious endocarditis.  Meningitis. Encephalitis. Skin and soft tissue infections. Cerebrovascular disease. Stroke. TIA. Chest pain and shortness of breath. Acute coronary syndromes. Heart failure. Cardiac arrhythmias. Aortic dissection. Pulmonary embolism. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Other presentations. Dizziness. Acute gastrointestinal haemorrhage. Parkinson's disease. Depression. Diabetes. Headache. Acute back pain. Acute joint inflammation. Elder abuse. Palliative care. Medications. List of abbreviations. Index.

    Biography

    Henry Woodford (Author) ,  Jim George (Australian National University, Canberra) (Author) ,  John Wattis (Author