• Inmaculada Ferreros, Salvador Peiro, Javier Chirivella-Garrido, Pablo Duque, Pablo Gagliardo, Raquel Perez-Vicente, and Julián Librero.
• Centro Superior de Investigacion en Salud Publica, Valencia, Spain.
• Rev Neurol. 2012 Jun 16; 54 (12): 719-28.

AbstractINTRODUCTION. Traumatic brain injuries (TBI) are a major cause of morbidity and mortality in children and adolescents but there are hardly any studies on the incidence and temporal evolution. AIM. To describe recent trends (2002-2009) in the incidence of hospitalization for TBI in children and adolescents in the region of Valencia. PATIENTS AND METHODS. Emergency admissions were identified in hospitals in the Valencian Health Agency from patients aged 0-19 years with a diagnosis of TBI (codes of the International Classification of Diseases 800, 801, 803, 804 and 850 to 854) during 2002 to 2009. The severity was classified using the fifth digit of these codes and the crude and standardized rates per 100,000 children were estimated stratified by age, sex and severity. RESULTS. From 2002 to 2009 a total of 5,504 TBI in children up to age of 19 years were hospitalized (mild: 92.9%; moderate to severe: 7.1%). In-hospital mortality was 0.6% for mild TBI and 15.7% for moderate-severe. Crude rates of mild head injury per 100,000 children fell from 85.9 to 55.4 in 2002-2009 (boys: 114.1 to 68.3, girls: 56.1 to 41.8), especially in the 15-19 years. For moderate-severe TBI, rates decreased from 5.73 to 2.78 per 100,000 in 2002-2009 (boys: 8.69 to 3.67; girls: 2.59 to 1.84). CONCLUSIONS. The incidence of pediatric TBI in the Valencia region has decreased significantly in the period 2002-2009, but their medical, legal, societal and family consequences still represents a substantial burden.

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