Trends of Patients Admitted to Pediatric Surgery Department Due to Unintentional Trauma at A Tertiary Care Hospital, Karachi

Abstract

Objective: To determine the frequency and factors associated with unintentional trauma and its management in children under 14 years of age. Study Design and Setting: This study is retrospective, descriptive and was conducted at the Pediatric Surgery Department and Emergency Room at Liaquat National Hospital and Medical College, Karachi. Methodology: Total duration of the study was from 1st January 2020 to 31st December 2020 and all the unintentional trauma cases in children below 14 years of age were included. Details of history, examination, and any procedure done were recorded through a predesigned proforma in regard to their age, gender, day of presentation and, factors related to trauma like the anatomical site, place, mode and type of injury along with their treatment outcomes. Descriptive statistics were run using SPSS version 26. Results: Out of 103 children, (66%) were males in the age group of 2-4 years. The surge of injuries was on weekdays (71.8%). Domestic injuries were 68.9% which is significantly higher. The most affected region was the head/ neck (28.2%) with lacerations (40.0%) and bruises (90.0%). Amongst the management outcomes, the invasive procedures were frequent (48.5 %) for laceration (48.0%). Conclusion: Amongst the (6.4%) of unintentional trauma cases, the majority of these injuries were blunt trauma in children under four years of age on the head/ neck region. We conclude that the majority of these pediatric injuries were moderate in nature and required invasive treatment strategies but these injuries are preventable.