Measuring children's health-related quality of life after trauma

Change in functional status among children treated in the intensive care unit after injury

BACKGROUND

Because pediatric trauma-related mortality continues to decline, metrics assessing morbidity are needed to evaluate the impact of treatment after injury. Based on its value for assessing children with traumatic brain injuries and other critical illnesses, Functional Status Scale (FSS), a tool that measures function in six domains (communication, feeding, mental, motor, sensory, and respiratory), was evaluated as an outcome measure for the overall population of injured children.

METHODS

Children with at least one injury (Abbreviated Injury Scale [AIS] severity ≥1) surviving to discharge between December 2011 and April 2013 were identified in a previous study of intensive care unit admissions. Morbidity was defined as additional morbidity in any domain (domain FSS change ≥2 or 'new domain morbidity') and additional overall morbidity (total FSS change ≥3) between preinjury status and discharge. Associations between injury profiles and the development of morbidity were analyzed.

RESULTS

We identified 553 injured children, with a mean of 2.0 ± 1.9 injuries. New domain and overall morbidity were observed in 17.0% and 11.0% of patients, respectively. New domain morbidity was associated with an increasing number of body regions with an injury with AIS ≥ 2 (p < 0.001), with severe (AIS ≥ 4) head (p = 0.04) and spine (p = 0.01) injuries and with at moderately severe (AIS ≥ 2) lower extremity injuries (p = 0.01). New domain morbidity was more common among patients with severe spine and lower extremity injuries (55.6% and 48.7%, respectively), with greatest impact in the motor domain (55.6% and 43.6%, respectively). New domain morbidity was associated with increasing injury severity score, number of moderately severe injuries and number of body regions with more than a moderately severe injury (p < 0.001 for all).

CONCLUSIONS

Higher morbidity measured by the FSS is associated with increasing injury severity. These findings support the use of the FSS as a metric for assessing outcome after pediatric injury.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

Prognostic/Epidemiologic, level III.

Pediatric burn-trauma patients have increased length of stay compared to trauma-only patients: A propensity matched analysis

BACKGROUND

Trauma is the leading cause of mortality in children. Burn injury involves intensive resources, especially in pediatric patients. We hypothesized that among pediatric trauma patients, combined burn-trauma (BT) patients have increased length of stay (LOS) and mortality compared to trauma-only (T) patients.

METHODS

The Pediatric Trauma Quality Improvement Program (2014-2016) was queried and BT patients were 1:2 propensity-score-matched to T patients based on age, gender, hypotension on admission, injury type and severity.

RESULTS

93 BT patients were matched to 186 T patients. There were no differences in matched characteristics. BT patients had a longer median LOS (4 vs 2 days, p<0.001) with no difference in mortality (1.1% vs 1.1%, p=1.00), intensive care unit (ICU) LOS (3 vs 3 days, p=0.55), or complications including decubitus ulcer (0% vs 1.1%, p=0.32), deep vein thrombosis (0% vs 0.5%, p=0.48), extremity compartment syndrome (1.1% vs 0%, p=0.16), and urinary tract infection (1.1% vs 1.1%, p=1.00).

CONCLUSION

Pediatric BT patients had twice the LOS compared to a matched group of pediatric T patients. There was no difference between the cohorts in ICU LOS, complications or mortality rate. When evaluating risk-stratified quality metrics such as LOS, concomitant burn injury should be incorporated.

Maternal and child health after injuries: a two-year follow-up of a nationally representative sample

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this study was to examine the association between childhood injury and health outcomes among survivors and their mothers using a national survey in the United States (US).

STUDY DESIGN

This was a longitudinal analysis of a nationally representative sample.

METHODS

Secondary analysis of the 1997-2013 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) was performed. Children (aged 2-18 years) with or without injuries were followed up for two years. Injuries captured in the study were those associated with at least one hospitalization, emergency department visit, or office-based visit. Outcome measures were child and maternal general and mental health status. Multiple mixed-logistic regressions were used with suboptimal health defined as the response of poor or fair health versus good, very good, or excellent health.

RESULTS

Of the 63,422 children analyzed, 3251 (4.9%) were injured, representing 3.6 million US children. Injured children were more likely to be male, white, and older than those without injuries (P < 0.01). About a fifth of injured children suffered head injuries. Injuries were strongly associated with suboptimal general and mental health status in children (adjusted odds ratios [AORs], 1.35 and 1.36, respectively, P < 0.05). Mothers of children with injuries were also more likely to report suboptimal mental health (AOR, 1.30, P < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

Injuries among children are associated with lasting adverse effects in general and mental health. To improve health outcomes of pediatric injuries, further follow-up care may be needed to ensure that they return to pre-injury health levels. These results highlight the importance of primary prevention and the long-term impact of injuries on the health of children and their mothers.

Clinician modifiable factors associated with better quality of life in children with acquired brain injury undergoing rehabilitation

OBJECTIVES

To identify clinician-modifiable factors related to quality of life (QOL) in children with acquired brain injury (ABI).

PARTICIPANTS AND METHODS

Thirty-nine children attending an ABI rehabilitation program (5-18 years) were assessed using the Personality Inventory for Children-2, Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scale-2, Handicap-Related Problems for Parents Inventory and Children's Assessment of Participation and Enjoyment. The Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory was completed by children and parents six months later.

RESULTS

Children with lower levels of internalising and externalising behaviours, health and social skill problems, and higher family functioning had significantly higher levels of total QOL (child and parent rated) (r = -.47 to -.79). In addition, children with higher levels of adaptive behaviour had significantly higher parent rated total QOL (r = .46). Measures of mother's stressors had moderate but not statistically significant relationships with the child's total QOL (r = -.31 to -.35). There were moderate and statistically significant relationships between measures of participation in physical activities and total QOL as rated by children (r = .42-.48) but not parents (r = .11-.30).

CONCLUSIONS

These findings suggest potential targets to be investigated in future clinical research in rehabilitation following ABI in children to optimise QOL.

Disparities in Non-Fatal Health Outcomes in Pediatric General Trauma Studies

When prevention efforts fail, injured children require high-quality health services to support their recovery. Disparities in non-fatal injury outcomes, an indicator of health-care quality, have received minimal attention. We evaluated the extent to which general trauma follow-up studies published in the peer-reviewed scientific literature provide evidence of socially patterned inequities in health, functional or disability outcomes ≥4 weeks after childhood injuries. Using a systematic search, we identified 27 eligible cohort studies from 13 high-income countries. We examined the extent to which the reported health outcomes varied across the PROGRESS criteria: place of residence, race/ethnicity, occupation, gender/sex, religion, socio-economic status, and social capital. The available evidence on differential outcomes is limited as many studies were compromised by selection or retention biases that reduced the participation of children from demographic groups at increased risk of adverse outcomes, or the analyses mainly focused on variations in outcomes by sex. Given the limited research evidence, we recommend greater attention to systematic collection and reporting of non-fatal injury outcomes disaggregated by socio-demographic indicators in order to identify disparities where these exist and inform equity-focused interventions promoting the recovery of injured children.

Functional outcomes of motor vehicle crash head injuries in pediatric and adult occupants

OBJECTIVE

The objective of the study was to develop a disability-based metric for motor vehicle crash (MVC) injuries, with a focus on head injuries, and compare the functional outcomes between the pediatric and adult populations.

METHODS

Disability risk (DR) was quantified using Functional Independence Measure (FIM) scores within the National Trauma Data Bank-Research Data System (NTDB-RDS) for the top 95% most frequently occurring Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS) 3, 4, and 5 head injuries in NASS-CDS 2000-2011. Pediatric (ages 7-18), adult (19-45), middle-aged (46-65), and older adult (66+) patients with an FIM score available who were alive at discharge and had an AIS 3, 4, or 5 injury were included in the study. The NTDB-RDS contains a truncated form of the FIM instrument, including 3 items (self-feed, locomotion, and verbal expression), each graded on a scale of 1 (full functional dependence) to 4 (full functional independence). Patients within each age group were classified as disabled or not disabled based on the FIM scale. The DR was calculated for each age group by dividing the number of patients who sustained a specific injury and were disabled by the number of patients who sustained the specific injury. To account for the impact of more severe associated coinjuries, a maximum AIS (MAIS) adjusted DR (DRMAIS) was also calculated for each injury. DR and DRMAIS ranged from 0 (0% disability risk) to 1 (100% disability risk).

RESULTS

An analysis of the most frequent FIM components associated with disabling MVC head injuries revealed that disability across all 3 items (self-feed, locomotion, and expression) was the most frequent for pediatric and adult patients. Only locomotion was the most frequent for middle-aged and older adults. The mean DRMAIS for MVC head injuries was 35% for pediatric patients, 36% for adults, 38% for middle-aged adults, and 44% for older adults. Further analysis was conducted by grouping the head injuries into 8 groups based on the structure of injury and injury type. The pediatric population possessed higher DRMAIS values for brain stem injuries as well as loss of consciousness injuries. Older adults possessed higher DRMAIS values for contusion/hemorrhage injuries, epidural hemorrhage, intracerebral hemorrhage, skull fracture, and subdural/subarachnoid hemorrhage.

CONCLUSION

At-risk populations such as pediatric and older adult patients possessed higher DRMAIS values for different head injuries. Disability in pediatric patients is critical due to loss of quality life years. Disability risk can supplement severity metrics to improve the ability of such metrics to discriminate the severity of different injuries that do not lead to death. Understanding of age-related differences in injury outcomes when compared to adults could inform future age-specific modifications to the AIS.

Uncovering cortico-striatal correlates of cognitive fatigue in pediatric acquired brain disorder: Evidence from traumatic brain injury

Cognitive fatigue is among the most profound and disabling sequelae of pediatric acquired brain disorders, however the neural correlates of these symptoms in children remains unexplored. One hypothesis suggests that cognitive fatigue may arise from dysfunction of cortico-striatal networks (CSNs) implicated in effort output and outcome valuation. Using pediatric traumatic brain injury (TBI) as a model, this study investigated (i) the sub-acute effect of brain injury on CSN volume; and (ii) potential relationships between cognitive fatigue and sub-acute volumetric abnormalities of the CSN. 3D T1 weighted magnetic resonance imaging sequences were acquired sub-acutely in 137 children (TBI: n = 103; typically developing - TD children: n = 34). 67 of the original 137 participants (49%) completed measures of cognitive fatigue and psychological functioning at 24-months post-injury. Results showed that compared to TD controls and children with milder injuries, children with severe TBI showed volumetric reductions in the overall CSN package, as well as regional gray matter volumetric change in cortical and subcortical regions of the CSN. Significantly greater cognitive fatigue in the TBI patients was associated with volumetric reductions in the CSN and its putative hub regions, even after adjusting for injury severity, socioeconomic status (SES) and depression. In the first study to evaluate prospective neuroanatomical correlates of cognitive fatigue in pediatric acquired brain disorder, these findings suggest that post-injury cognitive fatigue is related to structural abnormalities of cortico-striatal brain networks implicated in effort output and outcome valuation. Morphometric magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) may have potential to unlock early prognostic markers that may assist to identify children at elevated risk for cognitive fatigue post-TBI.

Diagnostic imaging of blunt abdominal trauma in pediatric patients

Trauma is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in childhood, and blunt trauma accounts for 80-90 % of abdominal injuries. The mechanism of trauma is quite similar to that of the adults, but there are important physiologic differences between children and adults in this field, such as the smaller blood vessels and the high vasoconstrictive response, leading to the spreading of a non-operative management. The early imaging of children undergoing a low-energy trauma can be performed by CEUS, a valuable diagnostic tool to demonstrate solid organ injuries with almost the same sensitivity of CT scans; nevertheless, as for as urinary tract injuries, MDCT remains still the technique of choice, because of its high sensitivity and accuracy, helping to discriminate between an intra-peritoneal form a retroperitoneal urinary leakage, requiring two different managements. The liver is the most common organ injured in blunt abdominal trauma followed by the spleen. Renal, pancreatic, and bowel injuries are quite rare. In this review we present various imaging findings of blunt abdominal trauma in children.

Six years beyond pediatric trauma: child and parental ratings of children's health-related quality of life in relation to parental mental health

Purpose

To examine the relationship between child self-report and parent proxy report of health-related quality of life (HRQL) and how parents’ mental health status relates to the HRQL ratings 6 years after minor to severe injury of the child.

Materials and methods

This cross-sectional cohort study was performed at a regional pediatric trauma center in Stockholm, Sweden. The PedsQL 4.0 versions for ages 5–7, 8–12, and 13–18 years were completed by 177 child–parent dyads 6 years after injury to the child. The parents also rated their own mental health through the mental health domain (MH) in the SF-36 Health Survey.

Results

The children’s median age was 13 years (IQR 10–16 years), 54 % were males, and the median ISS was 5 (IQR 2–9). Most of the parents were female (77 %), born in Sweden (79 %), and half had university degrees. There was no statistically significant difference between child self-report and parent proxy report in any of the PedsQL 4.0 scales or summary scales. The levels of agreement between child self-report and parent proxy reports were excellent (ICC ≥ 0.80) for all scales with the exception of emotional functioning (ICC 0.53) which also was the scale with the lowest internal consistency in child self-report (α 0.60). Multiple regression analyses showed that worse parental mental health status correlated with worse child self-report and parent proxy report of children’s HRQL.

Conclusions

Children and their parents’ reports on child’s HRQL were in agreement. Decreased mental health in parents was associated with lower scores on parent proxy reports and child self-reports of HRQL after injury. The current investigation highlights the possible relationship between parent’s mental health status and children’s HRQL long after an injury, which should be considered in future investigations and in clinical care.

Prevalence of and risk factors for poor functioning after isolated mild traumatic brain injury in children

This study aimed to determine the prevalence and predictors of poor 3 and 12 month quality of life outcomes in a cohort of pediatric patients with isolated mild TBI. We conducted a prospective cohort study of children and adolescents <18 years of age treated for an isolated mild TBI, defined as "no radiographically apparent intracranial injury" or "an isolated skull fracture, and no other clinically significant non-brain injuries." The main outcome measure was the change in quality of life from baseline at 3 and 12 months following injury, as measured by the Pediatric Quality of Life index (PedsQL). Poor functioning was defined as a decrease in total PedsQL score of >15 points between baseline and follow-up scores (at 3 and 12 months). Of the 329 patients who met inclusion criteria, 11.3% (95% CI 8.3-15.3%) at 3 months and 12.9% (95% CI 9.6-17.2%) at 12 months following injury had relatively poor functioning. Significant predictors of poor functioning included less parental education, Hispanic ethnicity (at 3 months following injury, but not at 12 months); low household income (at 3 and 12 months), and Medicaid insurance (at 12 months only). Children and adolescents sustaining a mild TBI who are socioeconomically disadvantaged may require additional intervention to mitigate the effects of mild TBI on their functioning.

Disparities in disability after traumatic brain injury among Hispanic children and adolescents

OBJECTIVE

To compare the extent of disability in multiple areas of functioning after mild, moderate, and severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) between Hispanic and non-Hispanic white (NHW) children.

METHODS

This was a prospective cohort study of children aged <18 years treated for a TBI between March 1, 2007, and September 30, 2008. Hispanic (n = 74) and NHW (n = 457) children were included in the study. Outcome measures were disability in health-related quality of life, adaptive skills, and participation in activities 3, 12, 24, and 36 months after injury compared with preinjury functioning. We compared change in outcome scores between Hispanic and NHW children at each follow-up time. All analyses were adjusted for age, gender, severity and intent of injury, insurance, family function at baseline, parental education, and income.

RESULTS

The health-related quality of life for all children was lower at all follow-up times compared with baseline. Although NHW children showed some improvement during the first 3 years after injury, Hispanic children remained significantly impaired. Significant differences were also observed in the domains of communication and self-care abilities after TBI. Differences between groups in scores for participation in activities were also present but were only significant 3 months after injury.

CONCLUSIONS

Hispanic children with TBI report larger and long-term reductions in their quality of life, participation in activities, communication, and self-care abilities compared with NHW children. The reasons for these differences need to be better understood and interventions implemented to improve the outcomes of these children.

Reliable change in postconcussive symptoms and its functional consequences among children with mild traumatic brain injury

OBJECTIVE To examine reliable change in postconcussive symptoms and its functional consequences among children with mild traumatic brain injury (TBI) over the first year postinjury as compared with children with orthopedic injuries. DESIGN Prospective, longitudinal cohort. SETTING Emergency departments at 2 children's hospitals. PARTICIPANTS Eight- to 15-year-old children with mild TBI (n = 186) or orthopedic injuries (n = 99). MAIN EXPOSURE Closed-head or orthopedic trauma. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Parents rated preinjury symptoms retrospectively shortly after injury and postconcussive symptoms at 2 weeks and 3 and 12 months postinjury. A regression-based approach was used to determine whether each child displayed reliable increases in postconcussive symptoms at each postinjury occasion. Health-related quality of life was assessed at 3 and 12 months postinjury. Information regarding children's educational programming was collected at the initial and 12-month assessments. RESULTS Children with mild TBI were significantly more likely than those with orthopedic injuries to show reliable increases in both cognitive and somatic symptoms. Group differences in the likelihood of reliable increases became less common with time for somatic symptoms but persisted to 12 months postinjury for cognitive symptoms. Among children with mild TBI, reliable increases in symptoms were more common among children with loss of consciousness or abnormalities on neuroimaging. Reliable increases in symptoms were associated with significant declines in health-related quality of life and an increased likelihood of educational intervention. CONCLUSION Many children with mild TBI show reliable increases in postconcussive symptoms that are associated with significant functional impairment in their daily lives.

Health-related quality of life in children and adolescents following traumatic injury: a review

This paper comprehensively reviews the published literature investigating health-related quality of life (HRQOL) following general traumatic injury in individuals between birth and 18 years. Studies were not considered if they primarily compared medical treatment options, evaluated physical function but not other aspects of HRQOL, or focused on non-traumatic wounds. Specific injury types (e.g., burn injury) were also not included. A total of 16 studies met criteria. Participants were age 1-18 years, with 12 studies considering children 5 years of age or older. Males were overrepresented. Injury severity averaged mostly in the moderate range. HRQOL deficits were noted in injured samples in all studies except the two with the longest time to follow-up (6-11 years). Some improvement was seen 6 months to 2 years after injury. Factors associated with HRQOL deficits were investigated, with acute and posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms showing the strongest relationship. Research to date in this area is impressive, particularly the number of studies using prospective longitudinal investigations and validated measures. Challenges remain regarding methodologic differences, assessment of preinjury status, retention of participants, and management of missing data. Suggested future directions include extension of follow-up duration, utilization of pediatric self-report when possible, inclusion of younger children, and development of intervention programs.

Quality care in pediatric trauma

Infrastructure, processes of care and outcome measurements are the cornerstone of quality care for pediatric trauma. This review aims to evaluate current evidence on system organization and concentration of pediatric expertise in the delivery of pediatric trauma care. It discusses key quality indicators for all phases of care, from pre-hospital to post-discharge recovery. In particular, it highlights the importance of measuring quality of life and psychosocial recovery for the injured child.

Incidence of disability among children 12 months after traumatic brain injury

OBJECTIVES

We examined the burden of disability resulting from traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) among children younger than 18 years.

METHODS

We derived our data from a cohort study of children residing in King County, Washington, who were treated in an emergency department for a TBI or for an arm injury during 2007-2008. Disabilities 12 months after injury were assessed according to need for specialized educational and community-based services and scores on standardized measures of adaptive functioning and social-community participation.

RESULTS

The incidence of children receiving new services at 12 months was about 10-fold higher among those with a mild TBI than among those with a moderate or severe TBI. The population incidence of disability (defined according to scores below the norm means on the outcome measures included) was also consistently much larger (2.8-fold to 28-fold) for mild TBIs than for severe TBIs.

CONCLUSIONS

The burden of disability caused by TBIs among children is primarily accounted for by mild injuries. Efforts to prevent these injuries as well as to decrease levels of disability following TBIs are warranted.

Association of initial CT findings with quality-of-life outcomes for traumatic brain injury in children

BACKGROUND

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a leading cause of acquired disability in children and adolescents.

OBJECTIVE

To demonstrate the association between specific findings on initial noncontrast head CT and long-term outcomes in children who have suffered TBI.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

This was an IRB-approved prospective study of children ages 2-17 years treated in emergency departments for TBI and who underwent a head CT as part of the initial work-up (n = 347). The change in quality of life at 12 months after injury was measured by the PedsQL scale.

RESULTS

Children with TBI who had intracranial injuries identified on the initial head CT had a significantly lower quality-of-life scores compared to children with TBI whose initial head CTs were normal. In multivariate analysis, children whose initial head CT scans demonstrated intraventricular hemorrhage, parenchymal injury, midline shift ≥ 5 mm, hemorrhagic shear injury, abnormal cisterns or subdural hematomas ≥ 3 mm had lower quality of life scores 1 year after injury than children whose initial CTs did not have these same injuries.

CONCLUSION

Associations exist between findings from the initial noncontrast head CT and quality of life score 12 months after injury in children with TBI.

Measuring the population burden of fatal and nonfatal injury

The value of measuring the population burden of fatal and nonfatal injury is well established. Population health metrics are important for assessing health status and health-related quality of life after injury and for integrating mortality, disability, and quality-of-life consequences. A frequently used population health metric is the disability-adjusted life-year. This metric was launched in 1996 in the original Global Burden of Disease and Injury study and has been widely adopted by countries and health development agencies alike to identify the relative magnitude of different health problems. Apart from its obvious advantages and wide adherence, a number of challenges are encountered when the disability-adjusted life-year is applied to injuries. Validation of disability-adjusted life-year estimates for injury has been largely absent. This paper provides an overview of methods and existing knowledge regarding the population burden of injury measurement. The review of studies that measured burden of injury shows that estimates of the population burden remain uncertain because of a weak epidemiologic foundation; limited information on incidence, outcomes, and duration of disability; and a range of methodological problems, including definition and selection of incident and fatal cases, choices in selection of assessment instruments and timings of use for nonfatal injury outcomes, and the underlying concepts of valuation of disability. Recommendations are given for methodological refinements to improve the validity and comparability of future burden of injury studies.

Quality of life in pediatric mild traumatic brain injury and its relationship to postconcussive symptoms

OBJECTIVES

Mild traumatic brain injury (TBI) and injury-related outcomes such as postconcussive symptoms (PCS) may influence health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in children.

METHODS

We evaluated HRQOL in 186 8- to 15-year-old children with mild TBI and 99 children with orthopedic injuries (OI). Parents rated the frequency and severity of PCS at an initial assessment within 2-weeks postinjury and rated HRQOL at 3- and 12-months postinjury.

RESULTS

The mild TBI and OI groups did not differ in psychosocial HRQOL, but the mild TBI group showed lower physical HRQOL at the 12-month follow-up. Somatic PCS were a significant predictor of physical HRQOL over time, and both cognitive and somatic PCS were significant predictors of psychosocial HRQOL over time. Children with higher PCS at the initial assessment had lower HRQOL scores at later time points.

CONCLUSIONS

Effective management of PCS may be associated with improvements in HRQOL following pediatric mild TBI.

The long-term outcome after severe trauma of children in Flanders (Belgium): a population-based cohort study using the International Classification of Functioning--related outcome score

Important long-term health problems have been described after severe paediatric trauma. The International Classification of Functioning (ICF) was developed as a universal framework to describe that health. We evaluated outcome in children after 'severe' trauma (defined as: hospitalised >48 h) by means of a questionnaire based on this ICF construct (IROS). Questionnaires were sent to children; one year after this trauma and to 'control' children without any previous 'severe' trauma. We created propensity score-matched pairs (n = 133) and evaluated differences in health perception. IROS characteristics were investigated by means of Item Response Theory models. We then estimated the health state of each individual based on his/her response pattern (factor score z01) and investigated the effect of selected covariates with simple linear regression. Significant odds ratios for differences between matched groups (p < 0.05) were observed for among others emotional problems, mobility, societal life and family burden, but not for chronic pain. Children in the trauma group showed, e.g. significant more physician (estimated relative risk R' 1.7) and psychologist (R' 3.5) visits. IROS primarily provides information from medium to high health burden levels and factor scores ranged from 0.41 (lowest) to 0.967 (highest burden). A significant impact on health burden could only be proven for the 'state at discharge' (p = 0.015), although there was a tendency towards worse factor scores for children that were older, had a higher Injury Severity Score or after traffic injury. In conclusion, we showed that the burden of health problems for children and families after severe trauma is still high and physical, as well as psychosocial in nature. The health state at discharge seems to predict long-term outcome, which might be of importance in view of, e.g. trajectory assistance. IROS may provide an improved scoring system to evaluate outcome after (paediatric) injury or critical illness.

Health-related quality of life after pediatric trauma

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

Pediatric injury results in significant preventable morbidity and functional limitations, with long-term impact on the quality of life of children and their families. The purpose of this review is to outline recent research in health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in pediatric trauma, with an emphasis on identification of predictors of outcome that will impact interventions and allocation of resources to optimize recovery.

RECENT FINDINGS

Studies of HRQOL in pediatric trauma use a variety of generic measurement tools that have now been validated in this patient population. Most children experience rapid recovery of physical and psychological functioning after injury, but children with traumatic brain injury continue to demonstrate long-term impairments. Decrease in HRQOL of children after trauma contributes to increase in caregiver stress and family burden of injury. There is increasing recognition of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in pediatric trauma, correlating with and impacting HRQOL.

SUMMARY

Evaluation of HRQOL in children after trauma should become incorporated into standards of care, with development of family-centered interventions and evidence-based allocation of resources for high-risk children and families to optimize long-term outcomes.

Traumatic abdominal aortic dissection in a 16-month-old child

Abdominal aortic injury after blunt trauma is rare in the pediatric population. There have been fewer than 20 reported cases in the literature since 1960, and most were the result of motor vehicle collisions. We report the case of a 16-month-old boy who is the youngest reported patient to sustain this type of injury. We discuss the radiologic findings in multiple imaging modalities, mechanisms, associated injuries and management options.