Risk prediction score for death of traumatised and injured children

Too little too late: Hypotension and blood transfusion in the trauma bay are independent predictors of death in injured children

BACKGROUND

Hypotension is a late finding in pediatric shock despite significant blood loss; consequently, recognition of hemodynamic compromise can be delayed. We sought to describe the impact of late stage shock in children, indicated by hypotension or trauma bay blood transfusion, and quantify the association with poor outcome.

METHODS

Children age < 18 from the Pennsylvania Trauma Outcome Study registry (2000-2013) were included. Primary outcome was mortality. Demographics, transfusion volume, vitals and injury severity were recorded. Multivariable logistic regression modeling was performed, with multiple imputation sensitivity analysis for missing data (<8% for all variables).

RESULTS

Sixty-four thousand three hundred forty-four subjects were included with median (interquartile range) age, 9 years (4-15 years); 51% interfacility transfers; 2.0% mortality; 4.4% admission hypotension; and 1.6% trauma bay transfusion rate. Overall, 46% of hypotensive patients, 42% of transfused patients, and 63% both hypotensive and transfused died. Hypotension (odds ratio, 12.8; 95% confidence interval, 10.7-15.4; p < 0.001) and transfusion (odds ratio, 3.1; 95% confidence interval, 2.8-3.4; p < 0.001) significantly increased odds of death after controlling for injury severity, penetrating and child abuse mechanisms, admission Glasgow Coma Scale score, and age. Survival curves demonstrated worse survival for transfused patients in early (<24 hours), intermediate (1-5 days), and late (>5 days) periods (all p < 0.001).

CONCLUSION

Hypotension and trauma bay blood transfusion are poor prognostic indicators. These events should signal high acuity and prompt immediate and aggressive resuscitation. Earlier recognition of shock and appropriate interventions, including increased availability of blood products to prehospital providers, may facilitate timely hemostatic resuscitation, preventing circulatory collapse and secondary brain injury.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

Epidemiological, level III.

The Preschool-Aged and School-Aged Children Present Different Odds of Mortality than Adults in Southern Taiwan: A Cross-Sectional Retrospective Analysis

Background: This study aimed to profile the epidemiology of injury among preschool-aged and school-aged children in comparison to those in adults. Methods: According to the Trauma Registry System of a level I trauma center, the medical data were retrieved from 938 preschool-aged children (aged less than seven years), 670 school-aged children (aged 7⁻12 years), and 16,800 adults (aged 20⁻64 years) between 1 January 2009 and 31 December 2016. Two-sided Pearson’s, chi-squared, and Fisher’s exact tests were used to compare categorical data. A one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) with the Games-Howell post-hoc test was used to assess the differences in continuous variables among different groups of patients. The mortality outcomes of different subgroups were assessed by a multivariable regression model under the adjustment of sex, injury mechanisms, and injury severity. Results: InFsupppjury mechanisms in preschool-aged and school-aged children were remarkably different from that in adults; in preschool-aged children, burns were the most common cause of injury requiring hospitalization (37.4%), followed by falls (35.1%) and being struck by/against objects (11.6%). In school-aged children, injuries were most commonly sustained from falls (47.8%), followed by bicycle accidents (14%) and being struck by/against objects (12.5%). Compared to adults, there was no significant difference of the adjusted mortality of the preschool-aged children (AOR = 0.9; 95% CI 0.38⁻2.12; p = 0.792) but there were lower adjusted odds of mortality of the school-aged children (AOR = 0.4; 95% CI 0.10⁻0.85; p = 0.039). The school-aged children had lower odds of mortality than adults (OR, 0.2; 95% CI, 0.06⁻0.74; p = 0.012), but such lower odds of risk of mortality were not found in preschool-aged children (OR, 0.7; 95% CI, 0.29⁻1.81; p = 0.646). Conclusions: This study suggests that specific types of injuries from different injury mechanisms are predominant among preschool-aged and school-aged children. The school-aged children had lower odds of mortality than adults; nonetheless there was no difference in mortality rates of preschool-aged children than adults, with or without controlling for sex, injury mechanisms and ISS. These results highlight the importance of injury prevention, particularly for preschool-aged children in Southern Taiwan.

Timing of mortality in pediatric trauma patients: A National Trauma Data Bank analysis

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE

The classic "trimodal" distribution of death has been described in adult patients, but the timing of mortality in injured children is not well understood. The purpose of this study was to define the temporal distribution of mortality in pediatric trauma patients.

METHODS

A retrospective cohort of patients with mortality from the National Trauma Data Bank (2007-2014) was analyzed. Categorical comparison of 'dead on arrival', 'death in the emergency department', and early (≤24h) or late (>24h) inpatient death was performed. Secondary analyses included mortality by pediatric age, predictors of early mortality, and late complication rates.

RESULTS

Children (N=5463 deaths) had earlier temporal distribution of death compared to adults (n=104,225 deaths), with 51% of children dead on arrival or in ED compared to 44% of adults (p<0.001). For patients surviving ED resuscitation, children and adolescents had a shorter median time to death than adults (1.2 d and 0.8 days versus 1.6 days, p<0.001). Older age, penetrating mechanism, bradycardia, hypotension, tube thoracostomy, and thoracotomy were associated with early mortality in children.

CONCLUSIONS

Injured children have higher incidence of early mortality compared to adults. This suggests that injury prevention efforts and strategies for improving early resuscitation have potential to improve mortality after pediatric injury.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

Level III: Retrospective cohort study.

Acute traumatic coagulopathy in a critically injured pediatric population: Definition, trend over time, and outcomes

BACKGROUND

While our understanding of acute traumatic coagulopathy (ATC) in adults is advancing, the pediatric literature on ATC is limited. Children have a unique injury profile and physiologic response to trauma; however, the impact of this phenomenon on ATC has not been fully elucidated.

METHODS

We performed a retrospective review of our trauma registry from 2005 to 2014. Level 1 trauma patients age 0 year to 17 years requiring admission to the intensive care unit were included. Variables included admission vital signs and laboratory studies, product transfusion, injuries, and mortality. Youden index was used to determine optimum cutoff point for admission international normalized ratio (INR) as a predictor of mortality. Logistic regression modeling was used to determine independent predictors of mortality adjusting for hypotension, hypothermia, acidosis, injury severity, hemorrhage, and head injury. χ tests were performed evaluating for association between mortality and 24-hour INR as well as between transfusion and INR correction.

RESULTS

A total of 776 patients were analyzed: 29.2% (n = 227) had an admission INR of 1.3 or greater, and 13.3% (n = 103) had an admission INR of 1.5 or greater. Youden index demonstrated optimum cutoff at INR of 1.3 or greater to distinguish survivors and nonsurvivors. Overall mortality rate was 11.1% (n = 86). Elevated INR was independently associated with mortality (odds ratio, 3.77; p < 0.001) after controlling for other predictors in regression modeling. Death was also associated with elevated INR at 24 hours and worsening INR trend over time. Patients who received plasma were equally likely to normalize their INR compared with those who were not transfused (p = nonsignificant). Findings were consistent across age groups.

CONCLUSION

INR likely serves as a marker of systemic dysregulation rather than a treatment target in ATC. Elevated admission INR, elevated INR at 24 hours, and overall trend in INR strongly predict mortality in a diverse pediatric trauma population; however, product transfusion did not influence the INR trend or clinical outcome. Further research is warranted to evaluate potential upstream mediators of ATC and targets for intervention in pediatric trauma patients.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

Prognostic and epidemiologic study, level III.

Systematic review and need assessment of pediatric trauma outcome benchmarking tools for low-resource settings

INTRODUCTION

Trauma is a leading cause of mortality and disability in children worldwide. The World Health Organization reports that 95% of all childhood injury deaths occur in Low-Middle-Income Countries (LMIC). Injury scores have been developed to facilitate risk stratification, clinical decision making, and research. Trauma registries in LMIC depend on adapted trauma scores that do not rely on investigations that require unavailable material or human resources. We sought to review and assess the existing trauma scores used in pediatric patients. Our objective is to determine their wideness of use, validity, setting of use, outcome measures, and criticisms. We believe that there is a need for an adapted trauma score developed specifically for pediatric patients in low-resource settings.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A systematic review of the literature was conducted to identify and compare existing injury scores used in pediatric patients. We constructed a search strategy in collaboration with a senior hospital librarian. Multiple databases were searched, including Embase, Medline, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials. Articles were selected based on predefined inclusion criteria by two reviewers and underwent qualitative analysis.

RESULTS

The scores identified are suboptimal for use in pediatric patients in low-resource settings due to various factors, including reliance on precise anatomic diagnosis, physiologic parameters maladapted to pediatric patients, or laboratory data with inconsistent accessibility in LMIC.

CONCLUSION

An important gap exists in our ability to simply and reliably estimate injury severity in pediatric patients and predict their associated probability of outcomes in settings, where resources are limited. An ideal score should be easy to calculate using point-of-care data that are readily available in LMIC, and can be easily adapted to the specific physiologic variations of different age groups.

Pediatric trauma BIG score: Predicting mortality in polytraumatized pediatric patients

BACKGROUND

Trauma is a worldwide health problem and the major cause of death and disability, particularly affecting the young population. It is important to remember that pediatric trauma care has made a significant improvement in the outcomes of these injured children.

AIM OF THE WORK

This study aimed at evaluation of pediatric trauma BIG score in comparison with New Injury Severity Score (NISS) and Pediatric Trauma Score (PTS) in Tanta University Emergency Hospital.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The study was conducted in Tanta University Emergency Hospital to all multiple trauma pediatric patients attended to the Emergency Department for 1 year. Pediatric trauma BIG score, PTS, and NISS scores were calculated and results compared to each other and to observed mortality.

RESULTS

BIG score ≥12.7 has sensitivity 86.7% and specificity 71.4%, whereas PTS at value ≤3.5 has sensitivity 63.3% and specificity 68.6% and NISS at value ≥39.5 has sensitivity 53.3% and specificity 54.3%. There was a significant positive correlation between BIG score value and mortality rate.

CONCLUSION

The pediatric BIG score is a reliable mortality-prediction score for children with traumatic injuries; it uses international normalization ratio (INR), Base Excess (BE), and Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) values that can be measured within a few minutes of sampling, so it can be readily applied in the Pediatric Emergency Department, but it cannot be applied on patients with chronic diseases that affect INR, BE, or GCS.