Pediatric Blunt Abdominal Trauma Clinical Prediction Model

The submitted proposal is designed to reduce morbidity and mortality to injured children. Significant variability in the initial trauma assessment exists among institutions. The proposed project is a prospective, observational, multi-institutional study of children following blunt abdominal trauma. The specific goals of the project are to: 1) Document history, physical exam findings, imaging, and laboratory values, which are available to physicians during the initial trauma resuscitation prior to a decision on whether to order an abdominal computed tomography (CT) to evaluate for potential intra-abdominal injury; and 2) Derive and validate a multi-variable clinical prediction rule based on data variables readily available during the pediatric trauma resuscitation to identify patients at low risk for intra-abdominal injury, in which unnecessary CT might safely be avoided. Information from this study could be used to develop a more standardized approach to the evaluation for intra-abdominal injury following blunt trauma in children. This information could lead to significant improvement in the early recognition of injury and to improved resource utilization.