Farm Accidents

In Reply.— We appreciate the interest and comments by Dr Paulson relative to our paper (Pediatrics 1985;76:562-566). In our series of 105 children injured in farm accidents, we reported one mortality (1%) and one child (1%) with major long-term disability. Follow-up ranged from 2 to 80 months based upon review of complete outpatient records in this stable rural population. Serious neurologic and physiologic sequelae were accurately recorded. We agree with Dr Paulson that a retrospective chart review will underestimate the number of minor disabilities including subtle neurologic, orthopedic, and pulmonary sequelae.