Background/introduction
Trauma is a major cause of mortality and morbidity in paediatric patients.
The pattern of injury in children differs from adults in many ways, given the different anatomical proportions and relative elasticity of tissues, hence approach to imaging and diagnosis should be tailored accordingly. [1]
Current imaging guidelines by various trauma societies and injury classification systems majorly pertain to adult patients with minimal modifications for paediatric age group. [2-4] While CT is the gold standard to detect intra-abdominal injuries , appropriateness of utilization of this...
Description of activity and work performed
We did a retrospective study over a period of 11 months in children presenting to the emergency department of our hospital with history of blunt trauma to abdomen.Patients between age of 2 to 18 years who were referred to our department for CECT examination were included in our study.
Initial examination was Focused Assessment with Sonography in Trauma (FAST) followed by biphasic/triphasic contrast enhanced Computed Tomography. All scans were performed with Philips 64 slice scanner.
Severity of injury in CT was assessed on American Association...
Conclusion and recommendations
This study identified certain grey zones where a detailed discussion is required between the emergency department physician and the radiologist to define further course of diagnostic imaging, given the radiation sensitivity of paediatric population, [5] cost benefit ratio and the fact that most of the injuries are treated conservatively, hence the need to diagnose an otherwise low grade injury should not take precedence over radiation safety of the patient.[7]
Another important conclusion of the study was that quality FAST examination would substantially reduce the need...
Personal/organisational information
G. Sharma; Rishikesh, UTTRAKHAND/IN - nothing to disclose S. Saxena; Rishikesh/IN - nothing to disclose N. Chatterjee; Dehradun, UTTARAKHAND/IN - nothing to disclose A. Kaushik; Rishikesh/IN - nothing to disclose
References
1. JT, Cantor RM. Pediatric major trauma: an approach to evaluation
and management. Emerg Med Clin North Am 2007;25:803.
2.Standards of practice and guidance for trauma radiology in severely injured
patients. London: Royal College of Radiologists; 2010.
3. Management of Children with Major trauma. NHS clinical advisory group
report. London: NHS; February 2011.
4. Gibb I, Denton E. Guidelines for imaging the injured blast/ballistic patient
in a mass casualty scenario. NHS Improvement System. London: NHS;
June 2011.
5.Brenner DJ, Hall EJ. Computed tomography d an...