Lesiones traumáticas en pacientes pediátricos del servicio de emergencia del Hospital José Carrasco Arteaga, 2019.

Abstract

Backgrounds: the pediatric population has become a vulnerable group, for each child that dies of a traumatic lesion, 40 patients are admitted and 1120 receive emergency treatments. In addition, it generates high rates of sequelae and disability, affecting the physical and psychological appearance of the child. Objective: to determine the characteristics of traumatic injuries in pediatric patients of the emergency service of the Hospital José Carrasco Arteaga, 2019. Methodology: this is an observational, quantitative, and cross-sectional study which was carried out during the period January-December 2019. Records of admission to the pediatric emergency room were analyzed from the database (MIS-AS 400). Data from 1015 pediatric patients diagnosed with physical trauma was obtained. Data was registered into a previously designed form. The results were analyzed with SPSS version 22.0, using frequency tables and percentages. Results: The frequency of physical trauma in pediatric patients was 14,25% of total emergency room admissions. The most affected age group was found to be between 6 to 11 years old, this represents 34,1%. Physical trauma was predominant in male pediatric patients; the total number of cases was 613 (60,4%). The 37,4% of cases occurred at home, sudden falls being the most common cause (55,8%). Limb injury was the most common type of physical trauma (51,7%). 68,2% of emergency room admissions were ambulatory, most patients stayed in the hospital for less than 24 hours (93,3%). Most commonly lesions were presented on Fridays (17,1%), the greatest frequency seen in January (31,3%), resulting in surgical management of 67 cases (6,6%). Conclusion: Physical trauma in pediatric patients is a public health issue; it constitutes a higher number of emergency room admissions, which could be easily prevented through education.