Pediatric trauma: overview of the problem.

Trauma in children claims more lives than any other childhood disease; (8,000 deaths were reported in the United States in 1989). The peculiar anatomy and physiology of the young body is responsible for the different pattern and distribution of injuries in children than in adults. For instance, 75% of multiply injured children suffer from head trauma. This implores early, aggressive airway management to prevent secondary hypoxic brain injury, which becomes a primary focus in treatment of the multiply injured child. Recent research indicates that care delivered by specially trained teams results in decreased morbidity associated with prehospital care and transport of these patients. Inpatient care of injured children ranges from highly sophisticated resuscitation and life support to postoperative pain control and tactful communication with distressed families. Physicians and nurses involved in trauma care must direct their efforts to further the education of medical personnel and the lay public regarding management of accident victims.