Are routine pelvic radiographs in major pediatric blunt trauma necessary?
Pelvic fractures in pediatric major blunt trauma can reliably be ruled out by using our pelvic trauma screening tool. Although no findings accurately identified the presence of a pelvic fracture, the screening tool accurately identified the absence of a fracture, suggesting that pelvic radiographs are not warranted in this subset of patients.
In this cohort of MT patients who survived beyond the first 48 hours, pulmonary dysfunction developed in the majority and was associated with a 10-fold higher risk of subsequent death. However, plasma-to-RBC ratio achieved during hemorrhage control had neither a positive nor a negative impact on subsequent P/F ratio. In fact, only unalterable patient factors including age and severity of thoracic injury were associated with subsequent P/F ratio.