Citation

Dykes EH, Spence LJ, Bohn DJ, Wesson DE. J. Trauma 1989; 29(6): 724-729.

Affiliation

Department of Surgery, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1989, Lippincott Williams and Wilkins)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

2738968

Abstract

Three hundred sixty-seven consecutive pediatric trauma deaths which occurred in Ontario between 1985 and 1987 were analyzed from the coroners' records. Injuries were classified as survivable or unsurvivable, and a preventable death rate of 20% was identified. Rural preventable deaths occurred mainly before arrival at hospital, but 55% of urban preventable deaths occurred in hospitals. The causes of death in children with survivable injury suggest that the institution of prehospital resuscitation and improvement in trauma care education for physicians might reduce mortality. The high incidence of unsurvivable injury suggests that injury prevention will be more cost effective in the long term.

Language: en