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Characteristics of severely injured children admitted to a Danish trauma centre
1christian.faergemann@rsyd.dk.
Insights
This study analyzed severe pediatric trauma cases in Denmark, finding that traffic accidents were a major cause of injury and death, especially in older children. Findings can inform injury prevention strategies and resource allocation.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Trauma Epidemiology
- Injury Prevention Research
- Public Health Surveillance
Background:
- Epidemiology of pediatric trauma in Scandinavian countries is not well-established.
- This study focuses on severe injuries in children admitted to a Danish trauma center.
Purpose of the Study:
- To describe the characteristics of severe injuries in children (0-15 years) admitted to a Danish university-level trauma center.
- To identify injury patterns, severity, and outcomes in pediatric trauma patients.
Main Methods:
- A descriptive study was conducted using data from 2002-2018.
- Included severely injured children (Injury Severity Score ≥ 16) admitted to Odense University Hospital.
- Data were sourced from the South Danish Register and medical records.
Main Results:
- 152 children (median age 11 years, 57% boys) were included.
- Traffic-related injuries accounted for nearly half of all cases, increasing with age, and had a 33% mortality rate.
- Head/face/neck, limbs, and thorax were the most common injury sites; 26% of all included children died.
Conclusions:
- Characterized severe pediatric injuries using regional trauma data.
- Findings offer insights into injury patterns and severity for risk identification and prevention.
- Results can aid in planning hospital resources for pediatric trauma care.
Introduction:
The epidemiology of children admitted to Scandinavian trauma centres remains largely unknown. This study aimed to describe the characteristics of severe injuries in children admitted to a Danish university-level trauma centre.
Methods:
A descriptive study of all severely injured (Injury Severity Score ≥ 16) children aged 0-15 years who were admitted to the university level trauma centre at Odense University Hospital, Denmark, in the 2002-2018 period. Data were extracted from the South Danish Register and from medical records.
Results:
A total of 152 children were included. The median age was 11 (range: 0-15) years. Boys accounted for 57% of the cases. Accidents accounted for 99% of the cases. In the youngest age group (0-4 years), the majority of injuries occurred in domestic areas, in the daytime, in the summer and around the weekends. In the oldest age group (11-15 years), most injuries occurred in traffic areas, in the autumn, on weekdays and in the afternoon. In all age groups, the majority of lesions were sustained to the head/face/neck, limbs and thorax. The overall median number of days in hospital was six. Overall, 39 (26%) children died. Almost half of the injuries were traffic related and this proportion increased with increasing age group. One-third of the traffic injured children died.
Conclusions:
Based on a regional trauma register, we described the characteristics of severely injured children. The study included several aspects regarding injury pattern and severity, which may be useful for risk identification, prevention of accidents and for hospital resource planning.
Funding:
none TRIAL REGISTRATION: not relevant.
