Traumatismo cranioencefálico na infância: perfil clínico-epidemiológico em um serviço de emergência

Abstract

to describe the clinical and epidemiological profile of pediatric patients who are victims of head trauma and to analyze the possible associations related to the severity of trauma. Method: cross-sectional and analytical study, based on the analysis of medical records of children aged 0 to 14 years who suffered head trauma, treated between January 2018 and January 2020, in the emergency department of hospital São Vicente de Paulo (HSVP), located in southern Brazil. Results: with a sample of 216 participants, the epidemiological profile was characterized by male patients (60.6%), white (94%), with a mean age was 5.1 years (±3.6). Mild trauma was the most frequent (90.7%) and a fall of less than or equal to one meter was the most prevalent etiology (48.1%). Of the signs and symptoms evaluated, headache was the only symptom that did not have a significant association with trauma severity (p<0.942). Computed tomography of the brain (CT) was the most requested examination (80%). Of the patients who underwent CT, 15.4% had no alterations on the examination. In the sample evaluated, 30.5% of the patients required hospitalization and 6.4% underwent some type of neurosurgical intervention. About the outcome, it was revealed that 92.6% were discharged from the hospital without any sequelae, while 1% died. Of the patients observed with mild trauma, 27% evolved to clinically important injury. Conclusions: head trauma in the infant population has a predominance of mild lesions, but may evolve to more important lesions. One should pay due to the associated signs and symptoms Conclusions: head trauma in the infant population has a predominance of mild lesions, but which may evolve to more important lesions. Attention should be given to the signs and symptoms associated with moderate to severe trauma and those that may lead to the development of clinically important lesions.