Trauma Outcomes in Pediatric Nonfatal Road Traffic Accidents.

BACKGROUND

By 2025, road traffic injuries are projected to rank third in the global burden of disease, posing a significant challenge that affects health, social well-being, and economic aspects. According to data from the Romanian Police National Statistics Center, there have been an average of 342 traffic accidents per year involving pediatric patients over the past 10 years.

MATERIALS AND

METHODS

A retrospective research study was conducted, encompassing 358 cases of road traffic accidents identified for the study, with data collected over a span of eight years, and with the aim of analyzing the types of injury and treatment methods in relation to age and sex, while also focusing on the duration of hospitalization and the occurrence of complications.

RESULTS

An oscillating trend is observed from 2015 to 2020, with its lowest value recorded in 2017 at around 6.8% and its peak in 2019 at 20.1%. Notably, post-pandemic (COVID-19), the cases underwent a substantial decline of approximately 60%. At least 78.7% of those who did not undergo orthopedic reduction required surgery, whereas among those who underwent orthopedic reduction, only 23.4% needed surgery. Regarding the frequency of complications 17.3% of the total cases experienced complications.

CONCLUSIONS

According to our findings, age has a significant effect on the type of accident (p < 0.05). Complications occurred in 17.3% of patients, most commonly surgical (24 cases, 38.7%), orthopedic (17 cases, 27.4%), and neurological (15 cases, 24.2%).