• A Lironi, S Zawadynski, G La Scala, C Thevenod, and C Le Coultre.
• Clinique de Chirurgie Pédiatrique, Hôpital des Enfants, Hôpitaux Universitaires de Genève.
• Swiss Surg. 1999 Jan 1; 5 (6): 271-5.

AimTo test the usefulness of the Pediatric Trauma Score (PTS) in a university hospital setting.MethodsAll injured children who were admitted to our emergency room during a one year period were prospectively studies. The study was performed at the Pediatric University Hospital of Geneva. Patients were divided into two groups: group one included severely injured children with a PTS equal or lower 8 and group two included patients with a PTS greater than 8.ResultsA total of 6804 injured children were admitted to our emergency room and 927 (14%) were hospitalized. In group one (104 children, 1.5%), six patients died whereas in group two (823 children, 12%), all patients survived. In addition, children in group one demonstrated a significant higher number of general anesthesia, a longer stay in the ICU and a longer stay, and an increased number of sequelae 3 months after trauma.DiscussionOur result confirm the usefulness of the PTS and the cutoff value of 8 in pediatric trauma. In addition, the study underlines the important morbidity and the residual sequelae after severe trauma in children.ConclusionThe PTS should be used in all injured children in order to identify patients at risk. This would allow to begin an appropriate treatment or, if necessary, initiate a transfer to a surgical pediatric center without delay.

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