First Spanish Trauma Registry: analysis of 1500 cases.
OBJECTIVES: To develop the first Spanish Pediatric Trauma Registry to collect and evaluate infomation concerning aspects of injuries in our pediatric population. METHODS: From January 1995 to August 1998, 35,946 children younger than 16 years were treated in our hospital for acute injury: 1500 were admitted and included in our database. Our file registry consists of 108 data points including: patient identification, type, place and mechanism of injury, pre-hospital care, transport, assessment on admission, severity scores, diagnostic studies, injuries, treatment morbidity and mortality. RESULTS: Accidents were more frequent in males (68%) than in females. The predominant age group was 12-15 years of age (34%). Accidents were more frequent in the street (35.1%) than at home (18.9%) or school (13%). Falls and traffic-related accidents were the leading cause of injury (39% and 21.2%, respectively). Two hundred and thirty-five (15.7%) had a Pediatric Trauma Score < or = 8. Fifty of these sustained multiple trauma (33%) (Injury Severity Score > or = 15). Musculoskeletal and head trauma were the most frequent injuries (48.5% and 42.0%, respectively). Surgical or orthopedic procedures were performed in 906 patients (56.5%). The average length of stay was 4.5 days (range 1-93 days). Functional impairment in children older than 4 years of age was found in 413 children (33.3%). We encountered 7 deaths in the 1500 patients, or an overall mortality of 0.5%. These 7 deaths were only seen in the I.S.S. > or = 15 group (50 patients) with 14% mortality. CONCLUSIONS: The goals of this Registry are to establish the epidemiology of our injured pediatric population, to review patient care, to develop prevention programs and to compare results with other centers so that potential deficiencies can be corrected.