Analysis of pediatric surgical trauma cases in a tertiary care center

Objective

To evaluate the pattern of pediatric trauma cases and their subsequent morbidity and mortality.

Methods

Retrospective review of all cases (less than 12 years) referred to the pediatric surgery unit of a teaching hospital over a period of 26 months (October 2011 to November 2013). Burns, isolated head injuries, ophthalmic injuries, and orthopedic injuries were excluded. The following parameters were assessed: age group, sex, mode of trauma, type of injury, place where the trauma occurred, time interval between injury and presentation and the overall morbidity as well as mortality.

Results

A total of 194 cases of trauma were assessed excluding 24 cases in whom the details were incomplete. Maximum number of cases (n=84) involved the children in school going age. The male to female ratio was 2.3:1. The majority of the cases (74%) were trivial trauma. Both road (36.5%) and home (35%) were almost equally unsafe in our series. The rest (28.3%) of the injuries occurred in the school/playground. The median time interval in presentation was 3 hours (ranges from 30 min to 7 days). Fourteen patients (7.2%) required operative intervention and among them none had any major complications until last follow up. There was no mortality in the series.

Limitations

The study is based on hospital data and hence the injury patterns and results cannot be generalized for the entire community.

Conclusion

The majority of the pediatric traumas are preventable. More coordinated efforts are needed to make our roads and home a safer place. Response time and referral pattern needs to be addressed to decrease the delay in reaching.