Surgical Critical Care for the Trauma Patient with Cardiac Disease.

The elderly population is rapidly increasing in number. Therefore, geriatric trauma is becoming more prevalent. All practitioners caring for geriatric trauma patients should be familiar with the structural and functional changes naturally occurring in the aging heart, as well as common preexisting cardiac diseases in the geriatric population. Identification of the shock state related to cardiac dysfunction and targeted assessment of perfusion and resuscitation are important when managing elderly patients. Finally, management of cardiac dysfunction in the trauma patient includes an appreciation of the inherent effects of trauma on cardiac function.