Non-accidental trauma increases length of stay and mortality in pediatric trauma

More than half a million children experience non-accidental trauma (NAT) annually. Historically, NAT has been associated with an increased hospital length of stay (LOS). We hypothesized that in pediatric trauma patients, NAT is associated with longer hospital LOS, independent of injury severity, compared to accidental trauma (AT).

The Pediatric Trauma Quality Improvement Program (2014-2016) was queried for patients aged 1-16 years. Patients were stratified into two groups: AT and NAT. The median LOS for the entire cohort was identified and used in a multivariable logistic regression analysis.

From 93,089 pediatric trauma patients, 417 (< 0.1%) were involved in NAT. Patients with NAT had a lower median age (3 vs. 9 years, p < 0.001) and higher median injury severity score (10 vs. 5, p  < 0.001), compared to patients with AT. After controlling for covariates, patients with NAT were associated with a longer hospital LOS (≥ 2 days), compared to those with AT (OR = 4.99 CI = 3.55-7.01, p < 0.001). In comparison to AT, NAT was also associated with a higher mortality rate (10.3% vs. 0.8%, p < 0.001).

Pediatric patients presenting after NAT have a prolonged hospital and ICU LOS, even after adjusting for injury severity. Furthermore, pediatric victims of NAT had a higher mortality rate compared to those presenting after AT.