Outcomes and delivery of care in pediatric injury. J Pediatr Surg 2006 Jan;41(1):92-8; discussion 92-8
Date
01/18/2006Pubmed ID
16410115DOI
10.1016/j.jpedsurg.2005.10.013Scopus ID
2-s2.0-30344484876 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site) 169 CitationsAbstract
PURPOSE: To design effective pediatric trauma care delivery systems, it is important to correlate site of care with corresponding outcomes. Using a multistate administrative database, we describe recent patient allocation and outcomes in pediatric injury.
METHODS: The 2000 Kids' Inpatient Database, containing 2,516,833 inpatient discharge records from 27 states, was filtered by E-code to yield pediatric injury cases. Injury Severity Scores (ISSs) were derived for each discharge using ICDMAP-90 (Tri-Analytics, Inc, Forest Hill, MD). After weighting to estimate national trends, cases were grouped by age (0-10, >10-20 years), ISS (< or =15, >15), and National Association of Children's Hospitals and Related Institutions-designated site of care. Measured outcomes included mortality, length of stay, and total charges. Analysis was completed using Student's t test and chi2.
RESULTS: Among 79,673 injury cases, mean age was 12.2 +/- 6.2 years and ISS was 7.4 +/- 7.6. Eighty-nine percent of injured children received care outside of children's hospitals. In the subgroup of patients aged 0 to 10 years with ISS of greater than 15, the mean ISS for adult hospitals and children's hospitals was not significantly different (18.9 +/- 9.1 vs. 19.4 +/- 9.3, P = .08). However, in-hospital mortality, length of stay, and charges were all significantly higher in adult hospitals (P < .0001).
CONCLUSIONS: Younger and more seriously injured children have improved outcomes in children's hospitals. Appropriate triage may improve outcomes in pediatric trauma.
Author List
Densmore JC, Lim HJ, Oldham KT, Guice KSAuthor
John C. Densmore MD Professor in the Surgery department at Medical College of WisconsinMESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold
AdolescentAdult
Child
Child, Preschool
Databases, Factual
Emergency Service, Hospital
Female
Hospital Mortality
Humans
Infant
Infant, Newborn
Length of Stay
Male
Pediatrics
Resource Allocation
Treatment Outcome
Triage
Wounds and Injuries