The utility of routine trauma laboratories in pediatric trauma resuscitations

A Reliable Screening Test to Predict Liver Injury in Pediatric Blunt Torso Trauma

“…The majority of the trauma was caused by traffic accidents (LI, 87.5%; NLI, 79.2%), which is in agreement with most studies [2,[5][6][7]. The LI patients were younger than the NLI patients.…”

“…The results of physical examination are usually unreliable in frightened, wounded children [1][2][3][4][5][6]. Focused abdominal sonography for trauma (FAST) scans often miss a liver injury in the absence of a hemoperitoneum [7,8].…”

Blood Utilization in Children Managed Non-Operatively for Blunt Solid Organ Injury

“…The utility of routine laboratory analysis for pediatric trauma resuscitations has been questioned, and it was concluded that routine laboratory panels were of little value, in that only 10% of patients were shown to benefit [9]. Transfusion of blood is not without risks, including both blood-borne pathogens and immunosuppressive effects [10].…”

Analysis of the necessity of routine tests in trauma patients in the emergency department

“…Thus, because of the potential masking effect of distracting pain, alcohol or drugs, the physical examination of the patients in the trauma bay should not be used as the sole screening test to detect abdominal or pelvic injury. Keller et al [12] determined that children with SGOT and SGPT abnormalities were more likely to have liver injury than children presenting with normal levels. They found that 67% of the children with SGOT levels greater than 400 U/L and 78% of the children with SGPT levels greater than 400 U/L would have a gradable liver injury (p<0.050).…”