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Pediatric Blunt Thoracic Trauma

Hanna Alemayehu1, Pablo Aguayo1

  • 1Department of Surgery, Children's Mercy Hospital and Clinics, Kansas City, Missouri, United States.

Journal of Pediatric Intensive Care
|May 22, 2019
PubMed

Insights

Pediatric thoracic trauma, though uncommon, causes significant harm. This review details common and rare chest injuries in children, focusing on anatomy, physiology, and management strategies.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric surgery
  • Trauma surgery
  • Pediatric critical care

Background:

  • Thoracic injuries represent less than 10% of pediatric trauma cases.
  • These injuries are associated with substantial morbidity and mortality in children.
  • Understanding unique pediatric anatomic and physiologic factors is crucial for managing thoracic trauma.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review the epidemiology, presentation, diagnosis, and management of blunt thoracic trauma in children.
  • To highlight common chest wall, pleural, and pulmonary injuries.
  • To briefly discuss rarer but severe thoracic injuries in pediatric patients.

Main Methods:

  • Comprehensive literature review of pediatric thoracic trauma.
  • Synthesis of data on injury patterns, clinical findings, and treatment outcomes.
  • Focus on blunt mechanisms of injury in the pediatric population.

Main Results:

  • Chest wall injuries, hemothorax, and pneumothorax are the most frequent thoracic injuries in children.
  • Pulmonary parenchymal injuries also occur commonly.
  • Less common but critical injuries include tracheobronchial, cardiovascular, esophageal, and diaphragmatic injuries.

Conclusions:

  • Prompt recognition and appropriate management of pediatric thoracic injuries are vital to reduce morbidity and mortality.
  • A thorough understanding of pediatric-specific injury mechanisms and anatomy is essential.
  • This review provides a framework for the evaluation and treatment of pediatric chest trauma.

Keywords:
chest traumachildrenpulmonary injurythoracic trauma

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