Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41241732›Full record

ArticleScandinavian journal of trauma, resuscitation and emergency medicine2025

Age- dependent injury patterns, management and impact on mortality of severe thoracic trauma in severely injured children: a retrospective study from the TraumaRegister DGU

Ina Fichtel, Sophie Fleischer, Lisa Bode, Rolf Lefering, Ferdinand C Wagner, Katrin Fink, Paula Beck, Hagen Schmal, Jörg Bayer

Abstract readMulticenter Study
In one paragraph

Article in Scandinavian journal of trauma, resuscitation and emergency medicine, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Ina FichtelDepartment of Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgery, Schwarzwald-Baar Hospital, Klinikstraße 11, 78052, Villingen-Schwenningen, Germany.
Sophie FleischerDepartment of Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgery, Schwarzwald-Baar Hospital, Klinikstraße 11, 78052, Villingen-Schwenningen, Germany.
Lisa BodeDepartment of Orthopaedic and Trauma Surgery, Medical Center, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Hugstetter Straße 55, 79106, Freiburg, Germany.
Rolf LeferingInstitute for Research in Operative Medicine (IFOM), Faculty of Health, University Witten/Herdecke, Ostmerheimer Straße 200, 51109, Cologne, Germany.
Ferdinand C WagnerDepartment of Orthopaedic and Trauma Surgery, Medical Center, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Hugstetter Straße 55, 79106, Freiburg, Germany.
Katrin FinkFaculty of Medicine, University Emergency Center, Medical Center, University of Freiburg, Sir-Hans-A.-Krebs-Straße, 79106, Freiburg, Germany.
Paula BeckDepartment of Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgery, Schwarzwald-Baar Hospital, Klinikstraße 11, 78052, Villingen-Schwenningen, Germany.
Hagen SchmalDepartment of Orthopaedic and Trauma Surgery, Medical Center, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Hugstetter Straße 55, 79106, Freiburg, Germany.
Jörg BayerDepartment of Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgery, Schwarzwald-Baar Hospital, Klinikstraße 11, 78052, Villingen-Schwenningen, Germany. joerg.bayer@klinikum.uni-freiburg.de.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundSevere thoracic trauma in children is rare and often underestimated. While standardized protocols exist, the rarity of polytrauma in children may lead to uncertainties in their application. Thus, we aim to characterize severely injured children with significant thoracic trauma and identify age-dependent differences in prehospital and early clinical management.

methodsPatients documented by German hospitals between 2008 and 2023 in the TraumaRegister DGU

resultsA total of 5,040 severely injured patients were analyzed (310 patients aged 0-5 years, 475 aged 6-12 years, 984 aged 13-16 years and 3,271 in group 17-20 years). With increasing age, significantly more males were injured and mechanism of injury was significantly different between the age groups. During prehospital management significant age dependent differences were seen regarding helicopter emergency medical service treatment, intubation, chest tube placement, application of catecholamines or tranexamic acid. Significant differences were found in terms of injured body regions, where the youngest suffered most from leading thoracic injury and injury to the head while abdominal injury and injury to extremities happened significantly more often in the 13-16 years old. During treatment the 13-16 years old received more blood products, were more likely to undergo thoracic surgery and stayed longer on the respective wards. Multivariate logistic regression showed an independent association with a significant mortality risk for MAIS ≥ 4 (OR = 2.87; p = 0.03), polytrauma (OR = 3.09; p < 0.001) and the need for blood transfusion before admission to the intensive care unit (OR = 2.46; p < 0.001).

conclusionsTreating severely injured children is always challenging, even more so when they have suffered critical trauma to the chest. With our results we offer starting points for age-dependent injury prevention and provide information to analyze and question current (pre-) hospital management protocols.

Indexed as

Multiple TraumaRegistriesThoracic InjuriesAdolescentAge FactorsChildChild, PreschoolFemaleGermanyHumansInfantInfant, NewbornInjury Severity ScoreMaleRetrospective StudiesRisk FactorsMortalityMultiple injuriesOutcomePediatricPolytraumaThoracic traumaTrauma management

Identifiers

PMID41241732
PMCPMC12619320

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.