Author:
Petrić Aleksandra,Odavić Milica,Fabri-Galamboš Izabela
Abstract
Introduction: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a leading cause of death and disability in children. Objectives of our study were to determine the most commonly applied measures in the initial care of children with head trauma before admission to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) and in the first 24 hours after admission to the PICU, as well as to identify measures correlated with the length of stay. Materials and methods: The research was conducted as a retrospective study analyzing data from medical records of patients who had a traumatic head injury and were hospitalized at the Institute for Health Protection of Children and Youth of Vojvodina (IHPYV) from August 2021 to August 2023, in the PICU. Results: The study included 34 children with an average age of 9.43 ± 5.3 years. Boys were statistically significantly more likely to sustain injuries (61.8%). Isolated head injury was present in 19 patients (55.9%), while 15 (44.1%) had associated injuries. The most common mechanism of injury was traffic accident trauma (61.8%). The Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) averaged 11.38 ± 3.7. The average length of stay in the PICU was 4.18 ± 2.87 days. Eight patients (23.5%) underwent surgery after admission to the PICU and CT diagnostics, while anti-edema therapy was applied in 19 patients (55.9%). Mechanical ventilation was used in 10 patients (29.4%). Patients with lower GCS values had a longer stay in the PICU. GCS was not a suitable parameter for assessing the need for surgery in the first 24 hours of patient treatment in the PICU, nor was it an adequate indicator of the need for mechanical ventilation. Conclusion: The results of our research show that the average age of children was 9.43 ± 5.3 years, predominantly boys. Despite many pediatric patients initially having a low GCS, they ultimately had a positive clinical outcome. Low GCS on admission of pediatric patients with head trauma was statistically significantly associated with a longer hospitalization in the PICU.
Publisher
Centre for Evaluation in Education and Science (CEON/CEES)
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