Surgical outcomes of pancreaticoduodenal injuries in children

Purpose

To examine surgical outcomes of children with pancreaticoduodenal injuries at a Quaternary Level I pediatric trauma center.

Methods

We queried a prospectively maintained trauma database of a level one pediatric trauma center for all cases of pancreatic and/or duodenal injury from 2002 to 2017. Analysis was conducted using JMP 13.1.0.

Results

170 children presented with pancreatic and/or duodenal injury. 13 (7.7%) suffered a combined injury and this group forms the basis for this report with mean ISS of 22.8 (±?15.1), RTS2 of 6.4(±?2.1), and median age of 6.6 (1.3–13.5) years. Child abuse (31%) and bicycle injuries (23%) were the most common mechanisms. 8/13 (61.5%) required operative intervention. Higher AAST pancreatic and duodenal injury grade (2.9 vs. 1.2, p?=?0.05 and 3.6 vs. 1.4, p?=?<?0.01), lower RTS2 (7.84 vs. 5.49, p?<?0.01), and lower GCS (9.6 vs. 15, p?=?0.03) predicted operative intervention. 6/8 (75%) undergoing surgery survived to discharge with only (2/6) survivors suffering postoperative complications. Both mortalities were secondary to severe traumatic brain injury.

Conclusion

Surgical management of complex pancreaticoduodenal injury is an uncommon traumatic event that is associated with high injury severity, but survival occurs in most scenarios.