'Not just little adults' - a pediatric trauma primer

Abstract

This article describes pediatric trauma care and specifically how a pediatric trauma center, like Hasbro Children's Hospital, provides specialized care to this patient population. The authors review unique aspects of pediatric trauma patients broken down into anatomy and physiology, including Airway and Respiratory, Cardiovascular Response to Hemorrhage, Spine Injuries, Traumatic Brain Injuries, Thoracic Injuries and Blunt Abdominal Trauma. They review certain current recommendations for evaluation and management of these pediatric patients. The authors also briefly review the topic of Child Abuse/Non-accidental Trauma in pediatric patients. Although Pediatric Trauma is a very broad topic, the goal of this article is to act as a primer and describe certain characteristics and management recommendations unique to the pediatric trauma patient.

Keywords: non-accidental pediatric trauma; pediatric trauma center; pediatric trauma care.