128 Prevalence of Older People Presenting Acutely to A Regional Spine Unit

Abstract

Abstract Background With ageing demographics, the number of older people is expected to rise exponentially over the next decade. With increasing numbers, the numbers of patients presenting to hospital will also increase. These patients have significant underlying comorbidities and thus further surgical interventions are more challenging. Objective To investigate the incidence of all in-patient referrals to the Nottingham Regional Spinal unit for patients aged 70 years and above over a 30-month period. Methods A retrospective 30-month review (Jan 2017-Aug 2019) of the clinical records of all in-patients’ referrals to the regional spinal unit (catchment population 4.5 million) for patients aged 70 years and above was undertaken. Patient demographics, co-morbidities, cause of referral, treatment modality (conservative vs. surgical), length of hospital stay, discharge destination (home vs. rehab) and mortality rates were collected and analysed. Results A total of 677 (Male: 335, Female: 342) in-patients’ referrals for patients aged 70 years and above were received. The mean age at presentation was 82.3 (±7.48) years. Trauma (low & high energy) was the most common cause of inpatient referrals (n = 448; 66.2%). Low energy trauma (insufficiency) fractures contributed to more than half of the total referrals (n = 256). Spondylodiscitis was the least common cause of referral (n = 34; 5%). Five-hundred forty-five patients were treated conservatively (80.5%). Average length of hospital stay was 16.7 days (range:1–282 days). Eighty-one of the discharged patients (13.5%) were transferred to rehabilitation after discharge, and the over-all 30-day mortality rate was 11.5% (n = 78). Conclusion Frail older people represent a significant workload to the regional spine unit. Adapting an ortho-geriatric model of care as with hip fracture care may be the optimal model of service delivery to improve outcomes for this patients group.