[Our experience in the poly-traumatized pediatric patient with criteria for admission to the ICU].

OBJECTIVE: To present our experience with severe pediatric trauma. The pediatric trauma is the leading cause of death in children under 2 years.

METHODS: We achieved a retrospective study from 78 pediatric patients admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (UCI) for multiple trauma between 2000 and 2008. Age, sex, season, location, mechanism, Glasgow and ITP, type of injuries, complications, days of hospitalization and deaths were reviewed. It was performed descriptive and analytical study using the SPSS 15.0 and chi square and Pearson correlation were applied.

OUTCOMES: The mean age of patients was of 8.5 +/- 4.2 years with 70% boys. Most accidents occurred in summer (37%) and the most common site was the road (47%). There was 15% of mortality, which the 75% occurred in the first 24 hours. There is an association between abdominal trauma and type of mechanism (p < 0.05). The most common mechanism was the traffic accident (45%) followed by a direct hit. Both ITP as Glasgow score were associated significantly with mortality and complications and with the hospital stay in the UCI there was a weak association but significant and negative (p < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS: Mortality is higher than other series but it may be because that these series include minor injuries. The fall down is the most frequent in pediatric emergencies but it was the mechanism that involves less admission to the UCI. Both ITP as Glasgow score are good indicators of severity and if their values decrease, the hospital stay in UCI and the mortality increase.