Inpatient falls in hospital can lead to significant morbidity and generally require a medical review and often radiological work-up if an underlying injury is suspected. This can naturally lead to increased pressure on healthcare institutions and increase costs of inpatient admission.[1] As a group, the elderly are particularly prone to falls in the healthcare setting, and the adverse effects of falls are often more pronounced in this population.[2] The rate of falls in elderly inpatients of hospitals can be as high as 2.5 falls per...

A record of falls which had occurred on a geriatric rehabilitation ward over a 5-month period was available for the purpose of this audit. An extensive retrospective chart review was carried out for each of the falls recorded. Each case was assessed under the following parameters: Date and time of fall Mechanism of fall Contributing diagnoses/risk factors for fall Use of antiplatelet/anticoagulant medication Findings on medical review (including any injury sustained) Imaging (whether carried out on-site or requiring transfer) Positive findings on imaging The above...

In the 5-month period reviewed in this audit, 19 falls occurred. 5 of the 19 falls requiredradiological work-up according to the conclusion of the medical review. Imaging carried out included plain film radiographs (wrist, elbow, lumbar and thoracic spine, pelvis -Fig. 1, Fig. 2), and CT (brain and pelvis -Fig. 3, Fig. 4). 4 out of the 5 patients imaged had an obvious injury on review. The fifth had fallen out-of-hours, and did not appear to have any injuriesat the time of review. This was...

The rate of falls in our patient population waslower than rates quoted in the literature.[3]This may be due to the availability of specialist nursing care for geriatric patients in the rehabilitation setting, as well as more experience identifying high risk patients and taking appropriate precautions. The rate of radiological work-up was lower in our patient group than that in similar reviews.[4]This may be due to the unavailability of imaging out-of-hours in this centre. We found that patients reviewed medically for falls out-of-hours did not always...

1. Dr Caoimhe McDonnell. Senior House Officer. Mater Misericordiae University Hospital, Eccles Street, Dublin 7. 2. Dr Siobhan Forman. Consultant Geriatrician and Rehabilitation Physician. Mater Misericordiae University Hospital, Eccles Street. Dublin 7.

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