Pediatric penetrating cervical trauma in HCUP: Associations with hospital length of stay and cost

To describe pediatric penetrating cervical trauma (PCT) and determine factors associated with increased length of stay (LOS) and total hospital charges. Retrospective review of Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) from the Kids’ Inpatient Database (KID) for 2016. Public database. A retrospective analysis of the HCUP from the KID for 2016 for inpatients ≤18 years of age. Comparisons between PCT and non-PCT patients were made, including hospital LOS and total charges. There were 1279 patients with neck trauma of which 686 (53.6%) were identified as sustaining PCT. Patients with PCT were older (13.2 vs 11.8 yr, p = .001), and were more likely to be male (65.9% vs 54.8%, p