A one-year prospective ED cohort of pediatric trauma

During a 12-month period ending on November 30, 1988, data were collected on 4623 pediatric patients visiting a pediatric emergency department with trauma (excluding burns). Sixty-one percent were male. Common causes of the trauma included suspected child abuse (4%), organized sports (6%), nonorganized sports (4%), pedestrian motor vehicle accidents (MVAs) (3%), bicycle MVAs (2%), and automobile MVAs (3%). However, most of the incidents had none of the identified associated activities surrounding the trauma (60%). Incidents took place at home (41%), on the street (11%), at school (10%), and at a playground or park (10%). Injuries involved the external body (59%), extremity (26%), head or neck (13%), face (4%), chest (1%), and abdomen (2%) and were more common during the summer. Injury severity scores had a mean of 1.8 and were grouped as: less than 3 (80%), 3-6 (19%), and greater than 6 (1.6%). Factors associated with higher trauma severity included MVAs, water-related injuries, sports, streets, schools, parks, playgrounds, skateboards, skates, and alcohol.