Politraumatismele prin accidente rutiere la copii. Epidemiologie și profilaxie | [Multiple traumas from car accidents. Epidemiology and prophylaxis]

Abstract

Paediatric trauma is responsible for almost half of the deaths in children in the last years. Multiple traumas represent about one third of all the car accidents’ injuries in children, most of them including a serious head trauma. It is very important to find out the causes and the conditions for the occurrence of paediatric multiple traumas in order to identify the potentially preventable ones. The aim of our study was to analyze the morbidity and mortality by multiple traumas in the patients admitted in the Paediatric Surgery Dept., Children’s Hospital of Brasov in the last 5 years (2000-2004) and to try to identify the predisposing factors and prevention methods. Thirty-five percent (147 cases) of the total of 481 patients admitted with multiple traumas were produced by a car accident. Most of the affected patients were 6- to 18 years old (mean 9.2) with a prevalence of the male gender. The study analysed the most important and frequent factors involved in traumas by car accidents and identified possible prevention directions.