Revisits, readmissions, and outcomes for pediatric traumatic brain injury in California, 2005-2014.

Long-term outcomes related to emergency department revisit, hospital readmission, and all-cause mortality, have not been well characterized across the spectrum of pediatric traumatic brain injury (TBI). We evaluated emergency department visit outcomes up to 1 year after pediatric TBI, in comparison to a referent group of trauma patients without TBI. We performed a longitudinal, retrospective study of all pediatric trauma patients who presented to emergency departments and hospitals in California from 2005 to 2014.

Comparing resource use between paediatric emergency department visits by triage level.

Objective: The majority of paediatric ED visits result in discharge but little is known about what ED resources are deployed for these visits. The goal of this study was to understand the utilisation of diagnostic testing, procedures and hospital admission for paediatric ED visits triaged as 'non-urgent'.

Study Design: We examined US ED visits for children aged 0-17 years from 1 January 2009 to 31 December 2011 in the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey.

Association between the seat belt sign and intra-abdominal injuries in children with blunt torso trauma in motor vehicle collisions.

Objectives: The objective was to determine the association between the abdominal seat belt sign and intra-abdominal injuries (IAIs) in children presenting to emergency departments with blunt torso trauma after motor vehicle collisions (MVCs).

Methods: This was a planned subgroup analysis of prospective data from a multicenter cohort study of children with blunt torso trauma after MVCs. Patient history and physical examination findings were documented before abdominal computed tomography (CT) or laparotomy.

Occult pneumothoraces in children with blunt torso trauma.

Objectives: Plain chest x-ray (CXR) is often the initial screening test to identify pneumothoraces in trauma patients. Computed tomography (CT) scans can identify pneumothoraces not seen on CXR ("occult pneumothoraces"), but the clinical importance of these radiographically occult pneumothoraces in children is not well understood. The objectives of this study were to determine the proportion of occult pneumothoraces in injured children and the rate of treatment with tube thoracostomy among these children.