Objective: There is paucity of data about prevalence of pediatric acute respiratory distress syndrome (PARDS) in children with pulmonary contusion (PC). We intend to evaluate PC in children with chest trauma and the association between PC and PARDS.
Design: Retrospective review of Institutional Trauma Registry for patients with trauma.
Setting: Level 1 trauma center.
Patients: Age 18 years and younger with a diagnosis of PC.
Interventions: None.
Measurements and main results: Of the 1916 children with trauma, 50 (2.6%) had PC. Patients with PC and PARDS had lower Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score (7 [3-15] vs 15 [15-15], P = .0003), higher Injury Severity Scale (ISS) score (29 [22-34] vs 19 [14-22], P = .004), lower oxygen saturations (96 [93-99] days vs 99 [98-100] days, P = .0009), higher FiO2 (1 [1-1] vs 0.21 [0.21-0.40], P < .0001), lower oxygen saturation/FiO2 (S/F) ratios (97 [90-99] vs 457 [280-471], P < .0001), need for invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV; 86% vs 23%, P < .0001), and mortality (28% vs 0%, P = .006) compared to those without PARDS. Forty-two percent (21/50) of patients needed IMV, of these 61% (13/21) had PARDS. Patients who needed IMV had significantly lower GCS score (8 [3-11] vs 15 [15-15], P < .0001), higher ISS score (27 [22-34] vs 18 [14-22], P = .002), longer length of stay (LOS; 7.5 [4-14] days vs 3.3 [2-5] days, P = .003), longer hospital LOS (18 [7.0-25] vs 5 [4-11], P = .008), higher PARDS rate (62% vs 7%, P < .0001), and lower S/F ratios (99 [94-190] vs 461 [353-471], P < .0001) compared to those who did not require IMV. Lower GCS score was independently associated with both PARDS and need for IMV.
Conclusions: Pediatric ARDS in children with PC is independently associated with lower GCS score, and its presence significantly increased morbidity and mortality. Further larger studies are needed to explore association of lower GCS and higher injury score in children with PARDS and PC.
Keywords: ARDS; GCS; PARDS; pediatric trauma; pulmonary contusion.