Three nurses from Hospital Beatriz Ângelo analyzed the cases of in-patient falls hospitalized here between 2015 and 2016 to investigate the relationship between the resulting physical damage and taking medications that increase the risk of bleeding. The results are analyzed in an article published in the July issue of Salutis Scientia , the journal of Health Sciences of the Escola Superior de Saúde da Cruz Vermelha Portuguesa (Portuguese Red Cross Higher School of Health). Luísa Caldas (HBA Coordinating Nurse), Joel Monteiro (former HBA Nurse and currently at the Tondela-Viseu Hospital Center) and Luís Sousa (HBA Inpatient unit) begin by identifying their starting point: “Being known the factors that interfere in the risk of falls in general and at hospital level, the same is not true of the factors linked to damage. In many situations of illness and hospitalization, there is a concomitant need for anticoagulant therapy which, by itself, increases the likelihood of hemorrhagic lesions, which is an added concern. ” Therefore, these professionals decided to “compare the degree of physical damage resulting from falls in patients receiving platelet anticoagulant and/or antiaggregant therapy versus those not taking this therapy” . Conclusions: "There is an almost perfect correlation between damage from falls, particularly in patients receiving anticoagulants or doubly treated with platelet anticoagulants and antiaggregants, for the most severe injuries (moderate, severe or death)." “The risk of falling increases with age, with adults over 65 being the most likely to fall. The risk of bleeding and the severity of injuries follow this age group. ” “Although antithrombotic therapy alone doesn’t increase the risk of falls, in case of its occurrence, there is an increased likelihood of injuries”. “The incidence of falls and damage in hospitalized patients over 65 using the medication under consideration should lead to the use of simple tools to assess patients for the risk of damages resulting from falls, as a measure for the reduction of injuries, particularly the most severe ones”. Read the full article ‘Danos físicos resultantes das quedas em doentes internados e medicamentos que aumentam o risco de hemorragia: haverá relação?’ (‘Physical damage resulting from falls in inpatients and medications that increase the risk of bleeding: will there be a relationship?')
