Trends and Outcomes of Pediatric Vascular Injuries in the United States: An Analysis of the National Trauma Data Bank

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, trauma is the leading cause of death in children aged >1 year in the United States (US). Although vascular injuries occur in only 0.6–1% of pediatric patients with trauma, they are a major mortality contributor. This study aims to examine epidemiology and outcomes after pediatric vascular injuries (PedVIs) in the US. The National Trauma Data Bank (2002–2012) was queried to identify children (0–16) with PedVIs. Patients were categorized based on their demographics, location, and mechanism and presenting trauma severity (injury severity score [ISS] and shock). Study was divided into two 5-year periods (P1: 2002–2006; P2: 2007–2012) to study the trends in pediatric vascular trauma presentation and outcomes (hospital death and extended length of stay [LOS > 8 days]) using adjusted analyses. Analyses were performed on 3,408 cases; who were male (73.7%) and Caucasian (52.8%) with a mean age of 10.5 ± 4.5 years. The Southern region of the US saw the highest increase in PedVIs (P2 versus P1: 38.3% vs. 25.0%, P