Fig. 9.1 Factors involved when staying upright Risk factors can therefore affect all the mechanisms that help us stay upright. Having taken a detailed and comprehensive history, one will now…

Fig. 18.1 Symptoms and signs of acute respiratory failure Age-related changes of the cardiorespiratory system should be taken into account in the assessment and management of dyspnoea. Figure 18.2 shows…

Chronic or acute kidney failure Heart failure—acute or chronic Hypertensive crisis Tachy- or bradyarrhythmias Lung arterial embolism, pulmonary hypertension Critical ill patients with respiratory insufficiency and septic condition Acute neurological…

Patient  Underreporting, stoicism  Concerns about the meaning of pain, of the diagnostic tests and hospitalisation  Difficulties to use some assessment tools  Multiple problems making treatment more difficult  Polypharmacy—side effects of…

Fig. 15.1 Algorithm for acute abdominal pain management in older patients (Adapted from [16]) A recent study showed that emergent gastrointestinal surgical procedures in older patients did not differ from…

The altering of the body as a result of the ageing process also leads to unexpected observations. For instance, whereas in middle age high blood pressure is associated with an…

System Score 0 Score 1 Score 2 Score 3 Score 4 Respiration PaO2/FiO2 mmHg (kPa) ≥400 <400 <300 <200 with respiratory support <100 with respiratory support Coagulation platelets (× 103/μL)…

Test Time to complete Training required? Sensitivity (95% CIs) (%) Specificity (95% CIs) (%) AMT10 Minutes Yes 86.6 63.5 AMT4 Seconds No 92.7 53.7 MOTYB Seconds No 91.3 49.7 4AT…