[Effectiveness of management of children with severe trauma in a pediatric trauma center and in an adult trauma center: A before-after study].

OBJECTIVE: To compare management of injured children in an adult trauma center (TC) with competencies in pediatric trauma care (2005-2007) and in a pediatric-only trauma center (2010-2012).

STUDY DESIGN: A before-after retrospective study.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: Fifty-nine children between 1 and 15 years of age admitted to the adult TC (2005-2007) were compared to 56 children admitted to the pediatric TC (2010-2012). Epidemiological data, severity scores, early outcome, and care duration in trauma resuscitation before whole-body CT were collected and compared between the two periods.

RESULTS: This study found no significant differences between the two periods in terms of care duration before the whole-body CT scan (28 min [18-40] vs 26.5 min [21-36], P=0.89) and early mortality (eight children [13.5%] vs ten children [17.8%], P=0.35).

CONCLUSION: With no differences in early management of injured children demonstrated, this study validates the organization within our pediatric trauma center. The effectiveness of management of children between 1 and 15 years of age with severe trauma seems to be similar in the two contexts.