Blunt trauma in children: causes and outcomes of head versus extracranial injury. 1993

I Lescohier, and C DiScala
Injury Control Center, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115.

A subset of the National Pediatric Trauma Registry was analyzed to describe causes and outcomes of blunt trauma among children younger than age 15 years. This subset, of 8639 children with blunt trauma, was divided into three groups according to the injured body region: a group with extracranial injury only (ECI) accounted for one half of the population, and the remainder were equally distributed between a group with head injury only (HI) and one with both conditions (ECI + HI). The three groups were compared with respect to demographic characteristics, external cause of injury, injury severity, and outcomes. Falls were the leading cause of injury in the HI group, where children were younger, whereas traffic-related injuries predominated in children with ECI or ECI + HI. Pedestrian injuries accounted for a significant share of poor outcomes. The highest proportions of deaths and severe injuries were observed in the mixed group (ECI +HI), and the lowest, in the ECI group. In contrast, functional impairments at discharge were most frequently noted in the ECI group, where 60% of the children were discharged with at least one impairment. While only 6% of children with HI were discharged with impairment, those affected exhibited more deficits in cognition and behavior, which are expected to persist longer than dysfunction in activities of daily living.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D007223 Infant A child between 1 and 23 months of age. Infants
D008297 Male Males
D002648 Child A person 6 to 12 years of age. An individual 2 to 5 years old is CHILD, PRESCHOOL. Children
D002675 Child, Preschool A child between the ages of 2 and 5. Children, Preschool,Preschool Child,Preschool Children
D005260 Female Females
D006259 Craniocerebral Trauma Traumatic injuries involving the cranium and intracranial structures (i.e., BRAIN; CRANIAL NERVES; MENINGES; and other structures). Injuries may be classified by whether or not the skull is penetrated (i.e., penetrating vs. nonpenetrating) or whether there is an associated hemorrhage. Frontal Region Trauma,Head Injuries,Head Trauma,Occipital Region Trauma,Parietal Region Trauma,Temporal Region Trauma,Craniocerebral Injuries,Crushing Skull Injury,Forehead Trauma,Head Injuries, Multiple,Head Injury, Minor,Head Injury, Open,Head Injury, Superficial,Injuries, Craniocerebral,Injuries, Head,Multiple Head Injuries,Occipital Trauma,Open Head Injury,Superficial Head Injury,Trauma, Head,Craniocerebral Injury,Craniocerebral Traumas,Crushing Skull Injuries,Forehead Traumas,Frontal Region Traumas,Head Injuries, Minor,Head Injuries, Open,Head Injuries, Superficial,Head Injury,Head Injury, Multiple,Head Traumas,Injuries, Minor Head,Injuries, Multiple Head,Injuries, Open Head,Injuries, Superficial Head,Injury, Craniocerebral,Injury, Head,Injury, Minor Head,Injury, Multiple Head,Injury, Open Head,Injury, Superficial Head,Minor Head Injuries,Minor Head Injury,Multiple Head Injury,Occipital Region Traumas,Occipital Traumas,Open Head Injuries,Parietal Region Traumas,Region Trauma, Frontal,Region Trauma, Occipital,Region Trauma, Parietal,Region Traumas, Frontal,Region Traumas, Occipital,Region Traumas, Parietal,Skull Injuries, Crushing,Skull Injury, Crushing,Superficial Head Injuries,Temporal Region Traumas,Trauma, Craniocerebral,Trauma, Forehead,Trauma, Frontal Region,Trauma, Occipital,Trauma, Occipital Region,Trauma, Parietal Region,Trauma, Temporal Region,Traumas, Craniocerebral,Traumas, Forehead,Traumas, Frontal Region,Traumas, Head,Traumas, Occipital,Traumas, Occipital Region,Traumas, Parietal Region,Traumas, Temporal Region
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000056 Accident Prevention Efforts and designs to reduce the incidence of unexpected undesirable events in various environments and situations. Prevention, Accident,Accident Preventions,Preventions, Accident
D000293 Adolescent A person 13 to 18 years of age. Adolescence,Youth,Adolescents,Adolescents, Female,Adolescents, Male,Teenagers,Teens,Adolescent, Female,Adolescent, Male,Female Adolescent,Female Adolescents,Male Adolescent,Male Adolescents,Teen,Teenager,Youths
D014949 Wounds, Nonpenetrating Injuries caused by impact with a blunt object where there is no penetration of the skin. Blunt Injuries,Injuries, Nonpenetrating,Injuries, Blunt,Nonpenetrating Injuries,Blunt Injury,Injury, Blunt,Injury, Nonpenetrating,Nonpenetrating Injury,Nonpenetrating Wound,Nonpenetrating Wounds,Wound, Nonpenetrating

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