Citation

Ha G, Jeon MJ, Sakong J. Korean J. Pediatr. 2010; 53(11): 942-950.

Affiliation

Department of Medicine, College of Medicine, Yeungnam University, Daegu, Korea.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2010, Korean Pediatric Society)

DOI

10.3345/kjp.2010.53.11.942

PMID

21218016

PMCID

PMC3012274

Abstract

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to determine the mechanisms and exact causes of injuries to children by analyzing the medical records of children who visited emergency medical centers. METHODS: We reviewed the medical records of 7,114 pediatric patients (aged below 15 years) who visited the emergency care center (ECC) of a Yeungnam university hospital in Daegu between January 2007 and December 2009. RESULTS: Among the pediatric patients who visited the ECC, 1,526 (27.2%) were admitted for injuries (boys, 979 [64.2%] and girls, 547 [35.8%]); the boy-to-girl ratio in this study population was 1.8:1. The proportion of boys was higher than that of girls over all age ranges, except for children aged less than 1 year. The highest incidence of injury due to slipping (20.5%) was noted in the 1-year-old group, and nearly half the total number of cases (49.3%) involved children who were under 4 years of age. Of the sites of injury, 999 involved the head and face (73.7%) and 134 involved the hand and wrist (9.9%). Seventy-one injuries (5.7%) occurred on the bed, 70 (5.6%) at the door, and 67 (5.3%) on the stairs. Of the approximately 250 types of injuries classified by cause, 17 accounted for 50.4% of all the injuries. CONCLUSION: The cause of injury could be attributed to approximately 20 causes in more than half the cases of pediatric injuries. A classification of the types of injuries and the development of appropriate preventive strategies can help avoid such injuries.

Language: en