Pediatric trauma susceptibility to sepsis

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of this review is to review how pediatric trauma may predispose children to sepsis.

Design: The information discussed in this report is derived from a recent literature review of pediatric trauma and related topics and discussion at an international consensus conference on pediatric sepsis.

Measurements and main results: There is a paucity of evidence on sepsis-related complications in pediatric trauma patients. Severe traumatic brain injury is a leading predisposing factor for sepsis complications. Excluding burn trauma, traumatically injured children without severe head injury rarely succumb to overwhelming sepsis.

Conclusions: Patients with multiple traumatic injuries are frequently admitted to the intensive care unit, and because head injury is the most common ailment, unconscious patients with a combination of injuries that include head injury will regularly require mechanical ventilation and central venous access and are at risk for life-threatening nosocomial infections. Outside of pulmonary contusions, organ-specific causes of infection are infrequent.