Geriatric traumatology (e. g. "Alterstraumatologie") is more than orthogeriatrics-Experiences of aphysician in advanced training.

Abstract

This article reporting the view of an early career physician focuses on the diverse components of orthogeriatric co-management in aclinical setting. Geriatric trauma patients require amultimodal and interdisciplinary management, which includes individual and age-specific aspects, such as intensified physiotherapy, trauma surgery and geriatric expertise as well as social support. In Germany this surgical and geriatric co-treatment is provided by the program geriatric traumatology (Alterstraumatologie), which is implemented and certified at special institutions called geriatric trauma centers (Alters-Trauma-Zentrum). This special care is accomplished by an orthogeriatric co-management, which combines the efforts of both modern state of the art trauma surgery and geriatric medicine, preferable by using the procedure of the so-called geriatric early rehabilitative complex treatment (geriatrische frührehabilitative Komplexbehandlung) according to the diagnosis-related group (DRG) procedure OPS 8550. This is administered in 3periods: the preoperative period, perioperative period and postoperative period and if indicated followed and completed by ageriatric rehabilitation. According to recent studies this approach has proved to be beneficial especially with respect to a reduction of posttraumatic morbidity rates and avoiding loss of function.