Television tip-overs: the Starship Children's Hospital experience and literature review

Abstract

Background: Injuries sustained from television (TV) sets tipping over onto children are uncommon when compared to other forms of trauma, but because of the weight of some TVs relative to the size of small children, severe and sometimes fatal injuries can result. The international literature is limited in describing this form of trauma and none is available for the Australasian region.

Aim: The aims of the present paper are to describe the characteristics and immediate outcomes of children admitted to Starship Children's Hospital following TV tip-overs and review the international literature on this topic.

Methods: Patients admitted to Starship Hospital were identified retrospectively from the Paediatric Trauma database, and the case notes reviewed. Structured telephone interviews were then conducted with each of the families involved.

Results: Over the 28-month period (June 2006-October 2008) reviewed, 13 children under 15 years of age were identified, with an almost even sex distribution. 5 required admission to the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU). 9/13 sustained head injuries and 1 patient died from their injuries. Mechanism of injury was in keeping with behaviour to be expected of toddlers. Parents and caregivers were unaware of the dangers posed by TV sets and no precautions had been taken to prevent injury.

Conclusions: The injuries sustained by children from TV tip-overs are often serious and most commonly involve the head and upper body. This is a common finding in all papers reviewed, but numbers of patients studied are still limited. There is a need for both education of families and improvement in the design of TV sets, to prevent this form of trauma in the paediatric population.