Diagnostic imaging in pediatric polytrauma management.
Trauma is the cause of over 45% of deaths in children aged 1 to 14 years. Since multiple injuries are common among children, the emergency physician has to assess all the organs of a high-energy injured child, independent of mechanism of the trauma. Even if the principles of polytrauma management are identical both in children and in adults, the optimal pediatric patient care requires a specific understanding of some important anatomical, physiological, and psychological differences that play a significant role in the assessment and management of a pediatric patient. Emergency Radiology already plays a crucial role in the diagnostic process of a polytraumatized child according to the primary survey, through the use of multiple imaging modalities. Radiological and Ultrasound examinations play a basic role in the hemodynamically unstable patients. In the hemodynamically stable patients whole-body CT scanning is the most immediate radiological procedure that allows the examination of all the body parts of a polytraumatized child, reducing the number of minor injuries that might otherwise be neglected.
Cardiovascular and Emergency Radiology Department, S. Camillo-Forlanini Hospital, 87, Circonvallazione Gianicolense, 00152, Rome, Italy, vmiele@sirm.org.
Vittorio
V
Miele
Ilenia
I
Di Giampietro
Stefania
S
Ianniello
Fabio
F
Pinto
Margherita
M
Trinci
D000293:Adolescent; D000465:Algorithms; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D003952:Diagnostic Imaging; D004635:Emergency Medicine / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D009104:Multiple Trauma / Q000175:diagnosis*; D010372:Pediatrics / Q000379:methods*