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Although cervical spine injuries are uncommon in children, a missed or delayed diagnosis may have devastating consequences for the patient. A thorough understanding of normal pediatric anatomy, injury patterns, and children who are at increased risk for injury is critical for the physician caring for the acutely injured child.
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"EMTALA: The Essential Guide to Compliance" from Thomson American Health Consultants, publisher of Trauma Reports, explains how the changes to EMTALA will affect emergency departments and off-campus clinics.
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Emergency department physicians must be vigilant to accurately assess, rapidly stabilize, and appropriately transport a severely injured patient to the level of trauma care the patient requires. Instead of viewing missed injuries as occurrences that result from inexperience or incompetence, strategies to minimize the occurrence of missed injuries and the resulting consequences are needed. All aspects of a trauma system must work together to improve patient care.
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Penetrating trauma to the torso can present a complex diagnostic and therapeutic challenge. Injuries can occur to the precordium, the thoraco-abdominal region, abdomen, flank, back, and pelvis. Injuries often occur simultaneously in several body cavities. Each of these body regions may require a different approach for both diagnosis and treatment. Penetrating injury from the nipple line to the inguinal ligaments anteriorly and from the tip of the scapula to the inferior gluteal folds should prompt suspicion of intra-abdominal injury.
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According to the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network, there are currently more than 100,000 people in the United States in need of life-saving organ transplants. Unfortunately, this demand far exceeds the number of available organs, and each day an average of 18 people die because of the shortage of organs and organ donors.
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In the United States, wound care constitutes a large part of the care provided in any emergency department (ED). While many lacerations and traumatic injuries can be repaired easily, some require complex and time-consuming management.
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Trauma is the single greatest cause of morbidity and mortality in the pediatric and adolescent populations.
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Trauma patients have a wide variety of presentations and acuity, and range from healthy patients with minor injuries to patients with extensive medical histories and major trauma.
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The spleen is the most frequently injured organ following blunt abdominal trauma.
