• J. Am. Coll. Surg. · Dec 2024

    Similar Associated Risk of Complications and Death for Adolescent Gunshot Wounds Treated at Pediatric Only Hospitals when Compared to Combined Pediatric and Adult Centers.

    • Lily Nguyen, Areg Grigorian, Carlin Lee, Laura F Goodman, Yigit Guner, Catherine Kuza, Lourdes Swentek, and Jeffry Nahmias.
    • University of California, Irvine, Department of Surgery, Division of Trauma, Burns and Surgical Critical Care, Orange, CA.
    • J. Am. Coll. Surg. 2024 Dec 2.

    BackgroundAdult trauma centers, including combined pediatric/adult centers (CPACs), see high volumes of penetrating trauma. Few studies have compared outcomes of adolescents presenting with gunshot wounds (GSWSs) at CPACs vs. pediatric only hospitals (POHs). This study aimed to compare injury patterns, complications, and mortality for adolescents sustaining GSWs presenting to CPACs vs POHs, hypothesizing decreased associated risk of complications and mortality at CPACs.Study DesignThe 2017-2021 Trauma Quality Improvement Program database was queried for adolescents (aged 12-17) with isolated GSWs. Patients transferred or with brain injury were excluded. CPACs included centers with adult and pediatric ACS-verification while POHs only had pediatric ACS-verification. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed to identify risk factors associated with in-hospital complications and mortality, controlling for age, injury severity score (ISS), vitals, surgery, and blood transfusions.ResultsOf 3,064 adolescents presenting with GSWs, 1,512 (49.3%) presented to CPACs. When compared to POH, CPAC patients were slightly older (median, 16 vs. 15 years old, p<0.001) had increased ISS (median: 9 vs. 4, p<0.001), and injuries to the spine (9.3% vs. 5.7%, p<0.001), heart (2.3% vs. 0.7%, p<0.001), lung (19.1% vs. 10.6%, p<0.001), liver (8.5% vs. 4.8%, p<0.001), and spleen (3.2% vs. 1.5%, p=0.002). CPAC adolescents also had increased rates of emergent operations (31.9% vs. 23.5%, p<0.001). However, on multivariable analysis, CPAC adolescents had a similar associated risk of in-hospital complications (OR 0.91, CI 0.59-1.41, p=0.68) and mortality (OR 0.76, CI 0.40-1.48, p=0.42).ConclusionsAdolescent GSW patients had similar associated risk of mortality and complications when comparing POHs to CPACs. This suggests that adolescents with GSWs receive similar care at both CPACs and POHs. Additional research is warranted to corroborate these findings.Copyright © 2024 by the American College of Surgeons. Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.

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