Accidental childhood injuries and trauma - abstract

Paediatric (<15 years of age) admissions for accidental injuries at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Barbados, were studied retrospectively for the period 1982-1991. Notes were retrieved according to the International Classification of Diseases. The objectives of the study were to evaluate the spectrum, incidence and trends of injury occurring during the period. There was a declining trend of admissions, with the most significant decrease in the 1-2-year-olds. The 5-12-year-old group had the most admissions (45 percent), followed by the 1-4-year-olds (37 percent), 13-14 years (13 percent) and <1 year (5 percent). Falls were the most prevalent cause for admission (36 percent), followed by motor vehicle accidents (MVA) (19 percent) and poisoning (14 percent). Poisoning, burns and foreign bodies were the most common in the 1-4-year-old age group. Falls, MVAs, being stuck with an object and machinery-related injuries were the most common in the 5-12-year-old age group. There was an overall decreasing trend in falls, being stuck with objects and poisonings, but there was an increasing trend in burns until 1986, but declining thereafter. There was an initial downward trend in the machinery-related injuries until 1985, but an increase thereafter. Despite the general declining trend in admissions for trauma, preventable trauma from machinery in the 5-12-year-old age group and burns in the 1-4-year-old age group showed no appreciable decrease in incidence (AU)

Childhood vaginal bleeding in Trinidad

In a review of 40 girls with vaginal bleeding in Trinidad the predominant causes were accidental falls (45 percent) and prolapsed urethral mucosa (36.5 percent). All 3 cases of sexual abuse sustained solely vaginal (internal) lacerations compared to the other 18 with falls where only vulval (external) lacerations were discovered. Foreign bodies and worms found in the vagina, vulvo-vaginitis and a cavernous haemangioma were less common aetiological factors

Splinter in the urine

A nine-year-old boy sustained a penetrating injury to the perineum. He later presented with urinary tract infections and a history of passing splinters in the urine. Investigation revealed a foreign body in the urinary bladder, and at suprapubic cystotomy splinters of wood and fragments of cloth were removed. (AU)

Obturation obstruction in a cocaine smuggler

A case of obstruction is reported in a 34 year-old narcotics smuggler. The typical diagnostic features of the presence of narcotics-filled packets in the gastrointestinal tract on the abdominal radiographs are highlighted. This should serve to alert physicians to this unusual aspect of the narcotics problem which, according to press reports, is gaining in significance in the Caribbean today (AU)

Mechanical injuries to the eye

This is a brief description of the common causes of mechanical injury to the eye. The diagnosis and early treatment are discussed (AU)

Foreign bodies in the ear, nose and throat

Practical discussion of operative management (AU)