Assaults with a sharp object in small children: a 16-year review.

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Trauma Surgery
• Child Injury Prevention
• Forensic Pediatrics

Background:

• Injuries from sharp object assaults in young children are infrequent, with limited available data.
• The Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital in South Africa serves over 10,000 pediatric trauma patients annually.
• This hospital is the sole dedicated Level 1 trauma unit for children under 13 in South Africa.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze the incidence, characteristics, and outcomes of sharp object assaults in children under 13.
• To identify common objects used, injury patterns, and demographic factors in pediatric sharp object assaults.
• To inform prevention strategies for sharp object-related injuries in children.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective review of a database from the Child Accident Prevention Foundation of Southern Africa.
• Inclusion criteria: children coded as 'assault with sharp object' treated at the Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital.
• Analysis of 551 patient records for demographics, injury sites, severity, objects used, and perpetrator information.

Main Results:

• Boys (68%) were more frequently injured than girls (32%), with a mean age of 7 years.
• The head and neck region (51%) was the most common injury site, followed by the trunk (26%) and extremities (26%).
• Glass/bottles (33%) and knives (18%) were the most frequent objects; 62% of injuries were minor, 33% moderate, and 5% severe, with 3 deaths.

Conclusions:

• Sharp object assaults, though rare (0.328% of pediatric trauma), result in significant morbidity and mortality.
• Most assaults occurred at home, with perpetrators often known to the child.
• Targeted prevention programs for caretakers are essential to mitigate these injuries.