Citation

Trokel M, DiScala C, Terrin NC, Sege RD. Child Maltreat. 2004; 9(1): 111-117.

Affiliation

Tufts-New England Medical Center, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2004, American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children, Publisher SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/1077559503260310

PMID

14871002

Abstract

This study sought to evaluate injury causes and patient outcomes in young children with abdominal injuries. Cases of blunt abdominal injury (N = 927) to children ages 0 to 4 years were extracted from the National Pediatric Trauma Registry. Measures included hospital utilization (days hospitalized, intensive care unit use, and surgery) and patient outcome (in-hospital fatality, discharge to rehabilitation facility, home rehabilitation, and home nursing). The three most common mechanisms of abdominal injury were motor vehicles (61.27%), child abuse (15.75%), and falls (13.59%). Hospital utilization was higher in patients with multisystem injuries. Patient outcomes were more severe in abused children or those with concomitant central nervous system (CNS) injury; these were the only variables independently associated with increased mortality in this sample. Pediatric abdominal trauma leads to intense use of hospital resources and a high risk of in-hospital mortality. Child abuse, compared to falls, is independently associated with a 6-fold increase in in-hospital mortality.

Language: en