Skip to main content

Thoracic Diseases in the Elderly for Geriatric Trauma and Emergency Care

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Geriatric Trauma and Critical Care

Abstract

Thoracic diseases in the geriatric patient that require emergency surgery are highly varied and can be quite challenging. They will often present with similar symptom complexes and can easily be confused with medically treated diseases. Unfortunately, many are imminently fatal if prompt diagnosis and management are not initiated. In this chapter, a broad range of thoracic surgical emergencies will be discussed. Specific focus will be given to those etiologies found most commonly in the geriatric population. In most cases, treatment of these conditions does not differ with advancing age.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Dailey RH. Acute upper airway obstruction. Emerg Med Clin North Am. 1983;1(2):261–77.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Aboussouan LS, Stoller JK. Diagnosis and management of upper airway obstruction. Clin Chest Med. 1994;15(1):35–53.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Lloyd DC, Taylor PM. Calcification of the intrathoracic trachea demonstrated by computed tomography. Br J Radiol. 1990;63(745):31–2.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Jo SH, Choi YJ, Cho GY, Kim HS, Jung KS, Rhim CY. Tracheal calcification. CMAJ. 2008;179(3):291.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  5. Swanson KL, Edell ES. Tracheobronchial foreign bodies. Chest Surg Clin N Am. 2001;11(4):861–72.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Rafanan AL, Mehta AC. Adult airway foreign body removal. what's new? Clin Chest Med. 2001;22(2):319–30.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Lin L, Lv L, Wang Y, Zha X, Tang F, Liu X. The clinical features of foreign body aspiration into the lower airway in geriatric patients. Clin Interv Aging. 2014;9:1613–8.

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  8. Jean-Baptiste E. Clinical assessment and management of massive hemoptysis. Crit Care Med. 2000;28(5):1642–7.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Karmy-Jones R, Cuschieri J, Vallieres E. Role of bronchoscopy in massive hemoptysis. Chest Surg Clin N Am. 2001;11(4):873–906.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Lenner R, Schilero GJ, Lesser M. Hemoptysis: diagnosis and management. Compr Ther. 2002;28(1):7–14.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Schiza S, Siafakas NM. Clinical presentation and management of empyema, lung abscess and pleural effusion. Curr Opin Pulm Med. 2006;12(3):205–11.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Wiedemann HP, Rice TW. Lung abscess and empyema. Semin Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 1995;7(2):119–28.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Mwandumba HC, Beeching NJ. Pyogenic lung infections: factors for predicting clinical outcome of lung abscess and thoracic empyema. Curr Opin Pulm Med. 2000;6(3):234–9.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Hirshberg B, Biran I, Glazer M, Kramer MR. Hemoptysis: etiology, evaluation, and outcome in a tertiary referral hospital. Chest. 1997;112(2):440–4.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Christie NA. Management of pleural space: Effusions and empyema. Surg Clin North Am. 2010;90(5):919–34.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Mansharamani NG, Koziel H. Chronic lung sepsis: lung abscess, bronchiectasis, and empyema. Curr Opin Pulm Med. 2003;9(3):181–5.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Sahn SA, Heffner JE. Spontaneous pneumothorax. N Engl J Med. 2000;342(12):868–74.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Nakajima J. Surgery for secondary spontaneous pneumothorax. Curr Opin Pulm Med. 2010;16(4):376–80.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Baumann MH, Strange C, Heffner JE, et al. Management of spontaneous pneumothorax: an american college of chest physicians delphi consensus statement. Chest. 2001;119(2):590–602.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. Manley K, Coonar A, Wells F, Scarci M. Blood patch for persistent air leak: a review of the current literature. Curr Opin Pulm Med. 2012;18(4):333–8.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Baumann MH, Strange C. Treatment of spontaneous pneumothorax: a more aggressive approach? Chest. 1997;112(3):789–804.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Lansman SL, Saunders PC, Malekan R, Spielvogel D. Acute aortic syndrome. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 2010;140(6 Suppl):S92–7.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Ramanath VS, Oh JK, TM S, KA E. Acute aortic syndromes and thoracic aortic aneurysm. Mayo Clin Proc. 2009;84(5):465–81.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  24. Golledge J, Eagle KA. Acute aortic dissection. Lancet. 2008;372(9632):55–66.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. Moon MR. Approach to the treatment of aortic dissection. Surg Clin North Am. 2009;89(4):869–93.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. Sheikh AS, Ali K, Mazhar S. Acute aortic syndrome. Circulation. 2013;128(10):1122–7.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Griepp RB, Ergin MA, Galla JD, et al. Natural history of descending thoracic and thoracoabdominal aneurysms. Ann Thorac Surg. 1999;67(6):1927–30.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  28. Elefteriades JA. Indications for aortic replacement. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 2010;140(6 Suppl):S5–9.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  29. DeVault KR. Presbyesophagus: a reappraisal. Curr Gastroenterol Rep. 2002;4(3):193–9.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  30. Brady PG. Esophageal foreign bodies. Gastroenterol Clin North Am. 1991;20(4):691–701.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  31. Weissberg D, Refaely Y. Foreign bodies in the esophagus. Ann Thorac Surg. 2007;84(6):1854–7.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  32. Kavic SM, Basson MD. Complications of endoscopy. Am J Surg. 2001;181(4):319–32.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  33. Wu JT, Mattox KL, Wall Jr MJ. Esophageal perforations: new perspectives and treatment paradigms. J Trauma. 2007;63(5):1173–84.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  34. Brinster CJ, Singhal S, Lee L, Marshall MB, Kaiser LR, Kucharczuk JC. Evolving options in the management of esophageal perforation. Ann Thorac Surg. 2004;77(4):1475–83.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  35. Siegel R, Naishadham D, Jemal A. Cancer statistics, 2012. CA Cancer J Clin. 2012;62(1):10–29.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  36. Younes Z, Johnson DA. The spectrum of spontaneous and iatrogenic esophageal injury: perforations, mallory-weiss tears, and hematomas. J Clin Gastroenterol. 1999;29(4):306–17.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  37. Altorjay A, Kiss J, Voros A, Sziranyi E. The role of esophagectomy in the management of esophageal perforations. Ann Thorac Surg. 1998;65(5):1433–6.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  38. Richardson JD. Management of esophageal perforations: the value of aggressive surgical treatment. Am J Surg. 2005;190(2):161–5.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  39. Dasari BV, Neely D, Kennedy A, et al. The role of esophageal stents in the management of esophageal anastomotic leaks and benign esophageal perforations. Ann Surg. 2014;259(5):852–60.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  40. D'Cunha J. Esophageal stents for leaks and perforations. Semin Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 2011;23(2):163–7.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  41. Landreneau RJ, Del Pino M, Santos R. Management of paraesophageal hernias. Surg Clin North Am. 2005;85(3):411–32.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  42. Spaniolas K, Laycock WS, Adrales GL, Trus TL. Laparoscopic paraesophageal hernia repair: advanced age is associated with minor but not major morbidity or mortality. J Am Coll Surg. 2014;218(6):1187–92.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  43. Ballian N, Luketich JD, Levy RM, et al. A clinical prediction rule for perioperative mortality and major morbidity after laparoscopic giant paraesophageal hernia repair. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 2013;145(3):721–9.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  44. Davis Jr SS. Current controversies in paraesophageal hernia repair. Surg Clin North Am. 2008;88(5):959–78.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  45. Stylopoulos N, Rattner DW. Paraesophageal hernia: when to operate? Adv Surg. 2003;37:213–29.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  46. Rashid F, Thangarajah T, Mulvey D, Larvin M, Iftikhar SY. A review article on gastric volvulus: a challenge to diagnosis and management. Int J Surg. 2010;8(1):18–24.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  47. Tsang TK, Walker R, Yu DJ. Endoscopic reduction of gastric volvulus: the alpha-loop maneuver. Gastrointest Endosc. 1995;42(3):244–8.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Matthew Benns MD .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2017 Springer International Publishing AG

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Benns, M., Richardson, J.D. (2017). Thoracic Diseases in the Elderly for Geriatric Trauma and Emergency Care. In: Luchette, F., Yelon, J. (eds) Geriatric Trauma and Critical Care. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-48687-1_21

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-48687-1_21

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-48685-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-48687-1

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics