Evaluation of paediatric blunt abdomen trauma patients presenting to the emergency room
, 2, 3, 1
Abstract
INTRODUCTION: In paediatric cases, trauma remains the most cause of morbidity and disability. Although abdominal trauma is observed less frequently in paediatric cases than isolated head trauma, it is still the leading cause of morbidity and mortality among children. Previous studies at the national level have either focused on blunt abdominal trauma in all age groups or other traumas at paediatric level. The studies targeting solely paediatric abdominal blunt trauma cases have not yet been evaluated. The aim of this study was to analyse and report the demographic characteristics, causes of trauma, developed pathologies, treatment approaches, and mortality rates in patients presenting to our emergency department with blunt abdominal trauma.
MATERIAL AND METHODS: The present study was designed as a retrospective study of 36 paediatric patients admitted to the Emergency Department of Kars Harakani State Hospital with blunt abdominal trauma between 2018 and 2019.
RESULTS: In the abdominal region, the most commonly injured organ was the liver (22 cases, 52.4%), while 13 (31%) cases had splenic trauma. Thirty-one (73.8%) patients had other body injuries in addition to the abdominal trauma, the most common of which were fractures (15 patients, 35.7%) and lung traumas (12 patients, 28.6%).
CONCLUSIONS: The organs that are damaged during the injury and the parameters that can be used to detect them provide important data for the rapid interference and treatment of life-threatening situations.
Keywords: emergency departmentblunt abdominal traumapaediatric casesmorbidity
References
- Bliss D, Silen M. Pediatric thoracic trauma. Crit Care Med. 2002; 30(11 Suppl): S409–S415.
- Richards JR, Knopf NA, Wang L, et al. Blunt abdominal trauma in children: evaluation with emergency US. Radiology. 2002; 222(3): 749–754.
- Khan RA, Wahab S. Blunt Abdominal Trauma in Children. Problems and Solutions. Springer. 2018.
- Afacan MA, Büyükcam F, Çavuş UY, et al. Acil servise başvuran künt toraks travma vakalarının incelenmesi. Kocatepe Tıp Dergisi. 2012; 13: 19–25.
- Ahluwalia T, Toy S, Kennedy C. 39 Use of Cognitive Task Analysis to Understand Decisionmaking for Management of Blunt Abdominal Trauma in Children. Annals of Emergency Medicine. 2018; 72(4): S19.
- Akçay MN, Yıldırgan Mİ, Çelebi F, et al. Künt karın travmalarının 10 yıllık retrospektif analizi. 1996.
- Işıklar MH, Allen R, Hunter G, et al. Künt batın travmalarına bağlı damar yaralanmaları. Ulusal Travma ve Acil Cerrahi Dergisi. 1999; 5(3): 170–174.
- Akay MA, Gürbüz N, Yayla D, et al. Acil servise başvuran pediatrik travma olgularının değerlendirilmesi. Kocaeli Tıp Dergisi. 2013; 2(3): 1–5.
- Chirdan LB, Uba AF, Yiltok SJ, et al. Paediatric blunt abdominal trauma: challenges of management in a developing country. Eur J Pediatr Surg. 2007; 17(2): 90–95.
- Onen A, Kaya M, Cigdem MK, et al. Blunt renal trauma in children with previously undiagnosed pre-existing renal lesions and guidelines for effective initial management of kidney injury. BJU Int. 2002; 89(9): 936–941.
- Ozturk H, Dokucu AI, Onen A, et al. Non-operative management of isolated solid organ injuries due to blunt abdominal trauma in children: a fifteen-year experience. Eur J Pediatr Surg. 2004; 14(1): 29–34.
- Holmes JF, Sokolove PE, Brant WE, et al. Identification of children with intra-abdominal injuries after blunt trauma. Ann Emerg Med. 2002; 39(5): 500–509.
- Capraro AJ, Mooney D, Waltzman ML. The use of routine laboratory studies as screening tools in pediatric abdominal trauma. Pediatr Emerg Care. 2006; 22(7): 480–484.
- Soyka JM, Martin M, Sloan EP, et al. Diagnostic peritoneal lavage: is an isolated WBC count greater than or equal to 500/mm3 predictive of intra-abdominal injury requiring celiotomy in blunt trauma patients? J Trauma. 1990; 30(7): 874–879.