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Children and television tipovers: a significant and preventable cause of long-term neurological deficits
Raafat R Yahya1, Peter Dirks, Robin Humphreys
1Division of Neurosurgery, Hospital for Sick Children, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Insights
Falling televisions cause serious head injuries in children, leading to lasting problems. Simple safety measures by manufacturers and parents can prevent these preventable injuries.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Traumatology
- Neurology
- Public Health
Background:
- Television tipover incidents are an emerging cause of pediatric injury.
- Head trauma from falling televisions is a leading cause of related fatalities in children.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the authors' experience with pediatric head injuries resulting from television tipovers.
- To analyze the clinical presentation, radiological findings, and outcomes of children with head injuries from falling televisions.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective review of medical records for children admitted with head injury due to falling televisions since 1992.
- Analysis of patient demographics, Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) scores, neurological examinations, radiological findings, hospital stay, and long-term follow-up.
- Eighteen pediatric patients (13 boys, 5 girls; age range 12 months to 10 years) were identified.
Main Results:
- Most patients had normal neurological exams on admission, but 16 skull fractures and various intracranial injuries (hematomas, hemorrhage, venous obstruction) were common.
- While most patients had high initial GCS scores, six experienced long-term cranial nerve deficits, and one had severe neurological deficits.
- The average hospital stay was 8.9 days, with follow-up extending up to 68 months.
Conclusions:
- Falling televisions cause significant head injuries in children, with considerable short- and long-term consequences.
- These injuries are preventable through simple safety measures implemented by manufacturers and caregivers.
- Emphasis on television anchoring and furniture stability is crucial for child injury prevention.
Object:
Television tipover has recently been recognized as a significant cause of injury in children, and head injury accounts for most of the associated deaths. The authors reviewed their experience with children who sustained head injury from falling televisions.
Methods:
Children admitted with the diagnosis of head injury related to falling televisions since 1992 were identified from the authors' trauma database, and a retrospective review of the medical records was performed. Eighteen patients were identified: 13 boys and five girls whose ages ranged from 12 months to 10 years (mean 44 months). The admission Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score was 15 in 10 patients. Only three patients had a GCS score of 8 or less (one patient had a score of 4). Neurological examinations were normal in 10 patients; three had cranial nerve deficits and three had otorrhea, otorrhagia, or hemotympanum. Radiological abnormalities included 16 skull fractures, three epidural hematomas, three small subdural hematomas, one intracranial hemorrhage, and three venous obstructions of the transverse-sigmoid sinus. The mean hospital stay was 8.9 days (range 2-39 days). Follow up at 0.2 to 68 months (mean 13.4 months) revealed severe neurological deficits in one patient and cranial nerve deficits of cranial nerves six, seven, or eight in six patients.
Conclusions:
Falling televisions result in significant head injuries in children, with substantial short- and long-term sequelae. This injury is easily preventable through simple measures taken by both the manufacturers and caregivers.
