Validation of a relative head injury severity scale for pediatric trauma.

Background: Brain injury is the most important independent predictor of mortality and morbidity in pediatric trauma. The Glasgow Coma Score (GCS) is the commonly used clinical instrument to assess brain injury. However, the GCS or one of its components is often not applicable in children under a certain age or cannot be computed reliably because of the patient's condition or the circumstances surrounding resuscitation efforts.

Intubation of pediatric trauma patients in the field: predictor of negative outcome despite risk stratification.

Background: Recently, evidence has shown that intubation in the field may not improve or may even adversely affect outcomes. Our objective was to analyze outcomes in pediatric intubated trauma patients using a large national pediatric trauma registry.

Methods: The patient population was derived from the last phase of the National Pediatric Trauma Registry, comprising admissions from 1994 through 2002.

Prediction of mortality in pediatric trauma patients: new injury severity score outperforms injury severity score in the severely injured.

Background: The Injury Severity Score (ISS) is a widely accepted method of measuring severity of traumatic injury. A modification has been proposed--the New Injury Severity Score (NISS). This has been shown to predict mortality better in adult trauma patients, but it had no predictive benefit in pediatric patients.

Traumatic brain injury in the elderly: increased mortality and worse functional outcome at discharge despite lower injury severity.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to compare data obtained from a statewide data set for elderly patients (age > 64 years) that presented with traumatic brain injury with data from nonelderly patients (age > 15 and < 65 years) with similar injuries.

Methods: The New York State Trauma Registry from January 1994 through December 1995, from trauma centers and community hospitals excluding New York City (45,982 patients), was examined. Head-injured patients were identified by International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision diagnosis codes.

Development of a model for prediction of survival in pediatric trauma patients: comparison of artificial neural networks and logistic regression.

Background/purpose: There is a paucity of outcome prediction models for injured children. Using the National Pediatric Trauma Registry (NPTR), the authors developed an artificial neural network (ANN) to predict pediatric trauma death and compared it with logistic regression (LR).

Methods: Patients in the NPTR from 1996 through 1999 were included.

The effects of motorcycle helmet use between hospitals in states with and without a mandatory helmet law.

Background: Motorcycle injuries and mortality are different depending on the use of a helmet. Helmet use varies greatly depending on state laws.

Methods: Retrospective study using trauma registry data from two Level 1 Trauma Centers in states with (NY) and without (CT) a mandatory helmet law, from 1996 through 1998.