Surgical intervention in pediatric trauma at a level 1 trauma hospital: a retrospective cohort study and report of cost data.

Background: Given that the management of severely injured children requires coordinated care provided by multiple pediatric surgical subspecialties, we sought to describe the frequency and associated costs of surgical intervention among pediatric trauma patients admitted to a level 1 trauma centre in southwestern Ontario.

Methods: All pediatric (age < 18 yr) trauma patients treated at the Children's Hospital - London Health Sciences Centre (CH-LHSC) between 2002 and 2013 were included in this study. We compared patients undergoing surgical intervention with a nonsurgical group with respect to demographic characteristics and outcomes. Hospital-associated costs were calculated only for the surgical group.

Results: Of 784 injured children, 258 (33%) required surgery, 40% of whom underwent orthopedic interventions. These patients were older and more severely injured, and they had longer lengths of stay than their nonsurgical counterparts. There was no difference in mortality between the groups. Seventy-four surgical patients required intervention within 4 hours of admission; 45% of them required neurosurgical intervention. The median cost of hospitalization was $27 571 for the surgical group.

Conclusion: One-third of pediatric trauma patients required surgical intervention, of whom one-third required intervention within 4 hours of arrival. Despite the associated costs, the surgical treatment of children was associated with comparable mortality to nonsurgical treatment of less severely injured patients. This study represents the most recent update to the per patient cost for surgically treated pediatric trauma patients in Ontario, Canada, and helps to highlight the multispecialty care needed for the management of injured children.