Trauma in childhood

Abstract

This study aims to identify the main traumatic events in children assisted at an emergency room in the city of Curitiba (PR), seeking, by this means, to alert the society and the families to the importance of preventing trauma in the pediatric age group. The present study is an exploratory and descriptive character research, accomplished at a hospital of the city of Curitiba. The research was based on the evaluation of the handbooks of trauma victims patients ranging from the age of 0 to 12 years old. During the period of the study 1.815 handbooks were analysed, being 1.080 children male (62,42%) and 650 children female (37,58%). The events more traumatic and prevalent were: fall in another level, fall in the same level, shock against object, physical torsion/effort and trauma caused by perforating-cutting instruments. In 129 cases it was possible to verify that the trauma resulted from aggression. In our study it was verified that most of the traumatic events involving children in the age studed was: fall in another level, fall in the same level, shock against object, physical torsion/effort and trauma caused by perforating-cutting instruments. It is necessary therefore, the restructuring of the family, so that the traumatic events in the childhood wouldn’t be faced as an accident anymore, and be treated as a real problem in the range of the public health.