Cause of Trauma in Children Predicts Outcome

A large study of children treated for traumatic injuries has shown that the outcomes are influenced by the way in which the injury was incurred. The results were reported at the 2003 Clinical Congress of the American College of Surgeons in Chicago (IL, USA).

The study involved more than 26,000 children and revealed that children who were hit by a car while walking, suffered injuries from a motorcycle crash, or received a gunshot wound had significantly worse outcomes than those injured in an automobile crash, even when the age, gender, and severity of injury were the same. Knowing how an injury occurred can thus add another parameter to the set of standard diagnostic factors used by trauma surgeons, such as age, gender, and severity of injury.

The study showed a higher risk for death, continued care in an extended-care facility, and impaired speech, locomotion, and feeding when children were run over by a car while walking. Children who were shot by a gun had a higher risk for death and extended care, while children who were in a motorcycle crash had a higher risk for impaired locomotion. Such data on the relationship between functional outcomes and the mechanism of injury may also guide the development of injury-prevention programs, according to the researchers.

"We now need to do a prospective, long-term outcomes study to figure out why the mechanism of injury makes such a difference,” said Adil Haider, M.D., a surgical resident at New York Medical College (NY, USA). "Once we understand that, we will be better able to determine how it affects treatment at a patient-by-patient level and the best way to prevent injuries.”




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