Turkish Journal of Geriatrics 2016 , Vol 19, Issue 4
FACTORS AFFECTING MORTALITY IN GERIATRIC PATIENTS WITH HEAD TRAUMA
Mustafa İÇER, Abdullah ŞEN, Yılmaz ZENGİN, Recep DURSUN, Hasan Mansur DURGUN, Mehmet ÜSTÜNDAĞ, Murat ORAK, Cahfer GÜLOĞLU
Dicle University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Emergency Medicine, DÄ°YARBAKIR Introduction: With aging, the anatomy and physiology of the body undergo changes. This leads to a change in the body's capabilities in response to trauma, resulting in increased traumainduced morbidity and mortality. We aimed to investigate the factors influencing the prognosis and mortality of geriatric patients with head trauma.

Materials and Method: A total of 1060 patients aged 65 and above who presented with head trauma within a three-year period were studied. The patients' collected data included gender, age, trauma presentation, Glasgow Coma Scale, Revised Trauma Score, cranial physical examination findings, localisation of the fracture in the cranial regions, cranial pathology, additional organ injury and survival/death status.

Results: Of the 1060 geriatric patients enrolled in the study, 500 (47%) were male and 560 (53%) were female. Of these patients, 1005 (94.8%) survived and 55 (5.20%) died. Among the deceased patients, 37 (37.3%) were male and 18 (32.7%) were female. The most common presentation was observed in the young old group (aged 65–75) with 513 patients. According to the causes of trauma, the most common cause was due to falling. The male gender was found to be at risk of mortality in all patients aged 65 and above. According to the computed tomography findings; intracranial haemorrhage, contusion, subarachnoid haemorrhage, epidural hematoma, subdural hematoma and intracranial edema were factors associated with increased mortality.

Conclusion: Males and cranial pathologies are associated with a higher mortality in geriatric patients with head trauma. Keywords : Geriatric; Craniocerebral Trauma; Mortality