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Falling television related child injuries in Turkey: 10-year experience
Recep Güloğlu1, Inanç Samil Sarıcı, Süleyman Bademler
1Department of General Surgery, İstanbul University, İstanbul, Turkey.
Insights
Pediatric TV-related injuries, often caused by furniture tipping, lead to severe head and thoracic trauma, especially in toddlers. Improved supervision and securing furniture can prevent these tragic, yet avoidable, childhood injuries.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Trauma
- Injury Prevention
- Consumer Product Safety
Background:
- Retrospective review of television-related injuries in children.
- Identification of risk factors, injury types, and required interventions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine risk factors for TV-related injuries in children.
- To analyze the types of injuries sustained.
- To evaluate the need for operative interventions.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective descriptive study of 42 pediatric patients.
- Analysis of demographic data, injury details, and management plans.
- Inclusion of Pediatric Trauma Score (PTS) and Pediatric Glasgow Coma Scale (PGCS).
Main Results:
- Over 65% of injured children were 1-3 years old; boys were more affected (66.7%).
- Head injuries (40.5%) and traumatic brain injuries were common; 11.9% of children died.
- Unstable furniture supports and furniture tipping were primary causes of injury.
Conclusions:
- TV-related falls cause significant pediatric morbidity and mortality.
- These injuries are preventable through increased supervision and securing furniture.
- Interventions should focus on environmental safety around televisions.
Background:
We reviewed retrospectively TV-related injuries to determine the risk factors, type of injuries, and operative intervention(s) required in children injured by falling TVs.
Methods:
This was a retrospective descriptive study conducted on 42 pediatric patients who were admitted to Istanbul University, Istanbul Medical Faculty, Emergency Surgery Department. Case notes included all demographic and injury details, TV and TV-related furniture type, mechanism of injury, Pediatric Trauma Score (PTS), Pediatric Glasgow Coma Scale (PGCS), length of hospital stay, need for intensive care unit assessments, and management plans.
Results:
More than 65% of the children were aged 1 to 3 years. The injury rate was higher for boys (66.7%) than girls (33.3%). Of the 42 patients identified, 17 (40.5%) sustained only head injuries, with almost half of these having a definite traumatic brain injury; 6 (14.3%) had only thoracic injury, and 4 (9.5%) had only limb injury. The PGCS ranged from 3 to 15, with a mean of 7. The PTS ranged from -6 to 12, with a mean of 9. Five children (11.9%), all aged 2 years or younger, died in the hospital as a result of the TV-related injury, all sustaining head and thorax injuries, which are reflected in a significantly lower PTS and lower PGCS on admission compared with older children. TV falls on to children often occur because of unstable supports, with dressers and shelves being the most common. The most common mechanism of injury (71.4%) among all age groups was fall/tipping of furniture. Pulling the furniture onto oneself (19%) was the second most frequent mechanism of injury.
Conclusion:
Injuries related to TV falls can lead to significant morbidity and mortality in children. As they are preventable injuries, restricted activity and improved supervision of children around the TV can potentially lead to fewer incidences.
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