Review Question - QID 1127

Buckley et al reviewed 805 pediatric trauma patients who sustained 953 fractures and dislocations to determine the relationship between skeletal injury and trauma score, injury severity score, length of hospital stay, hospital charges, and mortality. The femur was the most commonly fractured bone, and overall mortality was 3% in the group studied. The trauma patients with associated scapula or pelvic fractures had an 11% mortality rate, whereas those patients with spine fractures had a 16% mortality rate. Femur and tibia fractures had a mortality rate of 2% and 1% respectively. The authors concluded that central musculoskeletal injuries (spine, clavicle/scapula, and pelvis) were associated with the longest hospital stays and intensive care unit admissions, as well as the highest Injury Severity Scores, hospital charges, and mortality rates. Tepas et al reviewed the records of 4,400 children with traumatic head injuries, and compared them to head injuries reported from an adult trauma registry. They found that overall children have a lower mortality than adults, and that CNS injury is the predominant and most common cause of pediatric traumatic death.