Epidemiology of paediatric traumatology: history, evolution, and perspectives

Paediatric traumatology sits at the crossroads of orthopaedics, paediatric surgery, and public health. This instructional lecture addresses four questions: what is the global epidemiological burden of acute paediatric trauma? What are the specific features and growing importance of sports-related injuries, both acute and chronic? What are the specificities of paediatric polytrauma assessment and care organisation? How have evolving surgical practises and prevention policies transformed patient outcomes? After a brief historical overview, the article presents global epidemiological data, details acute and overuse sports injuries as a major twenty-first-century challenge, analyses validated polytrauma assessment tools and discusses surgical management trends for long-bone fractures. Future perspectives emphasise multidisciplinary collaboration, SROS-based care pathways, harmonised EPOS training programmes and evidence-based reassessment of surgical thresholds.