Background: The 2014 ACC/AHA Perioperative Guidelines suggest using the Revised Cardiac Risk Index (RCRI), myocardial infarction or cardiac arrest (MICA), or American College of Surgeons (ACS)-NSQIP calculators for combined patient-surgical risk assessment. Alrezk and colleagues recently published a new geriatric-sensitive cardiac risk index (GS-CRI) to predict MI or cardiac arrest in the geriatric population. We [...]

Background: Our institution is a Level 1 regional trauma center with a large inpatient volume. A large percentage of these patients are elderly, with the traumatic events occurring as sequelae of their age, debility or medical complications. Last year, we developed a Trauma/Acute Care Surgery Hospitalist Co-Management program, due to, in large part, the increasing [...]

Background: Despite its prevalence, constipation is frequently under-recognized and treated with ineffective agents in hospitalized older adults. Methods: An anonymous survey was distributed to physicians regarding constipation management in hospitalized older adults. Chi-square or Fisher’s exact, as appropriate, were used to explore associations between demographics and survey answers. T-test was used to compare groups on [...]

Background: Transient elevations of blood pressure are common in hospitalized older adults and may lead inpatient clinicians to intensify inpatient antihypertensive therapy and discharge patients on these intensified regimens. Intensification of outpatient regimens during hospitalization can easily become over-treatment once patients return home, increasing patients’ risk of adverse drug events including syncope and falls. Thus, [...]

Background: Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in the United States. The increased risk of VTE among medically ill older adults is firmly established. Guidelines strongly promote the use of pharmacologic VTE prophylaxis in this population, yet studies have suggested sub-optimal prophylaxis rates. Our study aimed to describe current provider [...]

Background: Many patients are discharged from the hospital to post-acute rehab in a skilled nursing facility (SNF). These care transitions can be error-prone, hampered by inadequate patient preparation for rehabilitation and insufficient communication between care providers. The readmission rate from SNF was 23.5% in 2006, costing Medicare $4.34 billion. Prior studies show 30% of these [...]