Error traps and culture of safety in pediatric trauma
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Read the article on sciencedirect.com ↗Article · Jun 2019 · 1 min read
In brief
In brief
This article identifies critical error traps in pediatric trauma care, particularly at adult centers lacking pediatric expertise. Key pitfalls include missed non-accidental trauma, undetected blunt cerebrovascular injury, excessive CT radiation exposure, overlooked bowel injuries, and failure to recognize hemodynamic instability in children.
Written by the GCMD Library team from the article.
Publication date: Available online 25 April 2019
Source: Seminars in Pediatric Surgery
Author(s): Shannon N. Acker, Ann M. Kulungowski
Abstract
Trauma is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the pediatric population. Due to a variety of factors, many pediatric trauma patients are initially evaluated and stabilized at adult hospitals that lack pediatric specific emergency medicine and surgical expertise. While similar to adult patients, the initial evaluation and resuscitation of pediatric patients does differ. Many of these key differences contribute to missed injury and susceptibility to error in the treatment of children. Here, we highlight a variety of differences between pediatric and adult trauma patients and clarify reasoning for these differences. Error traps that are discussed include missed cases of non-accidental trauma, missed blunt cerebrovascular injury, over use of CT (computed tomography) scans with unnecessary radiation exposure, missed small bowel or mesenteric injury, and unrecognized hemodynamic instability.