Non-operative management of isolated solid organ injuries due to blunt abdominal trauma in children: a fifteen-year experience.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate essential prerequisites for a selective non-operative approach in children with solid organ injuries due to blunt abdominal trauma, and to determine the predictive value of two different trauma scoring systems: the Injury Severity Score (ISS) and the Paediatric Trauma Score (PTS). A retrospective review of children who were admitted with blunt abdominal solid organ injuries to a paediatric trauma centre between January 1986 and September 2001 was performed. Hepatic, splenic, and renal injuries were graded, based on the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma (AAST) Organ Injury Scale (ranged from grade I to IV). The patients were treated non-operatively or operatively and the two groups were compared for variables such as age, blood transfusion, ISS, PTS, length of hospitalisation, morbidity and mortality rate. Two hundred and five patients (147 boys and 58 girls) entered in this study. Median age was 7 years (1 - 15 yrs). The most common cause of trauma was falls (50%). Abdominal organ injuries were present in all patients with the spleen as the most commonly injured organ (111 patients). Fifty-one patients (32%) had additional extra-abdominal organ injuries. Thirty-five (17%) patients were treated operatively, while 170 (83%) were treated non-operatively. Post-traumatic complications developed in 10 patients treated operatively versus 4 patients treated non-operatively. Four patients died due to multiple organ failure (2 non-operative, 2 operative). When compared to the non-operative group, higher transfusion requirements (p < 0.05), a higher ISS (p < 0.01), lower PTS values (p = 0.0001), a longer hospitalisation period (p = 0.0001), and a higher complication rate (p < 0.05) were observed in the operative group. In addition, the non-operative treatment approach was more common in the last five years compared to the previous ten years (p = 0.002). In conclusion, the appropriate non-operative management of injured children reduces the risks of blood transfusion and decreases the length of hospital stay compared with a surgical approach. The use of physiological parameters and radiological findings may be sufficient criteria for observing haemodynamically stable patients with isolated abdominal organ injuries, and thus intensive care unit costs may be avoided. In addition, a careful and close follow-up is essential in injured patients with a low PTS or high ISS.

Colon injuries in children.

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: Colonic injuries are rare in childhood, but when they do occur, they are mostly associated with penetrating abdominal injuries. The primary repair of colon injuries without stoma is still controversial within surgical experience, and the potential risk factors affecting morbidity and mortality is not sufficiently known. METHODS: Between 1985 and 1997, 34 children presenting with traumatic colonic perforations were reevaluated by analyzing the relationship between the overall morbidity and mortality and the potential risk factors. RESULTS: Of the 34 children in the case study, 27 boys and 7 girls, there were 7 (21%) isolated colonic injuries. The remaining 27 (79%) patients showed colonic injuries most frequently associated with the small bowel, the liver, and the bladder. Localization of injury was distributed thus: 21% in the right colon, 29% in the transverse colon, and 50% in the left colon. Primary repair, with or without intestinal resection, was performed in 27 (79%) of the patients. In total, postoperative complications occurred in 10 (29%) of the patients. Risk factors such as age, abdominal contamination, and associated abdominal organ injuries were found significant in these complications, however, the mechanism of injury, shock, blood transfusion, and localization of injury were not correlated significantly to postoperative complications. "'Flint's Colon Grading System" was used to ascertain the sensitivity of trauma scoring systems for postoperative complications. CONCLUSION: Colonic wounds can be repaired primarily without the need of colostomy in the majority of cases in children when the required selections are established.

Zenker's diverticulum in childhood: a new case.

Zenker's diverticulum (ZD) is a very rare pathology in childhood and to date only few pediatric cases have been reported in literature. Herein we report on a case of ZD with cervical abscess formation and oral purulent drainage in a 6-year old girl with severe malnutrition. Diverticulectomy was performed as surgical treatment. The patient is free of symptoms after two years' follow-up.