How much paediatric major trauma is truly paediatric? Experience from a level 1 urban Major Trauma Centre

Abstract

Background At its inception, there was no formal provision for children within the English major trauma network. There are now combined and stand-alone centres, but the scarcity of paediatric trauma facilities in some regions can result in long patient transfers and impact patient outcomes. The objective of this study was to determine the proportion of paediatric trauma patients who may benefit from input by adult services or may be safely managed within the local adult MTC, either because of patient physiology or injury patterns. Methods All trauma presentations to our urban MTC aged ≤16 over a 3-year period were retrospectively identified and grouped, based on age and weight. ‘Young adult’ mechanisms of trauma and patient destinations (whether paediatric or adult wards) were determined. Results There were 847 paediatric trauma cases recorded with a mean age of 9 and a male preponderance. Based on age and weight, 10–45% of cases could be considered physiologically adult-like, and 22–28% pubertal. Almost all penetrating trauma occurred in males, increasing with age. 14% of all admissions were managed on adult wards, with frequency increasing with patient age and with mechanism of actions (MOIs) relating to interpersonal violence. Conclusion In this dataset, nearly half of paediatric trauma was ‘pubertal’ or ‘adult’ in their physiology and of these most presented with ‘young adult’ MOIs. These children likely benefit from combined paediatric and adult trauma services; where these do not exist, some older patients may be safely managed within local adult MTCs.