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Paediatric trauma and trauma care in Flanders (Belgium). Methodology and first descriptive results of the PENTA registry

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Abstract

Paediatric injury surveillance and prevention are definite priorities for the European, Belgian, and Flemish authorities. Current available data for Flanders (Belgium) are fragmentary and out-of-date. The PENTA registry (PaEdiatric Network around TraumA) was therefore set up to obtain recent population-based data on trauma and trauma care in children and youngsters in Flanders. Data were collected prospectively in a representative sample (n = 18) of Flemish emergency departments (ED). All children (age 0–17 years) who presented at the ED in 2005 or died prehospital due to trauma were included. The registry was split into two levels. The basic A registry (‘all’ trauma) consisted of 30 variables, and the more exhaustive B registry (‘severe trauma’, defined as length of hospitalisation >48 hours, including all nonsurvivors) collected data on 291 variables. The incidence for paediatric trauma presenting at Flemish ED was approximately 119/1000/year. Further data were collected in a random sample of 7,879 cases (21.9% of 35,900 eligible patients). Of all cases, 0.8% were considered ‘severe’ and included in the B registry. In conclusion, the ’burden‘ of injury in Flanders is still enormous. PENTA provides the first population-based data about the circumstances and the extent of injury in children and youngsters for the Flemish region. In this article we present in detail the surplus value of the methods used, the difficulties encountered, and the most relevant epidemiological findings from the registry.

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Abbreviations

PENTA:

Paediatric network around trauma

ED:

Emergency departments

IDB:

European injury database

EMS:

Emergency medical services

MECU:

Mobile emergency care unit

CI:

Confidence interval

ISS:

Injury severity score

SD:

Standard deviation

IQR:

Interquartile range

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Acknowledgments

The Flemish paediatric trauma registry (PENTA) was funded by the Flemish Fund for Scientific Research: project Levenslijn. The following Flemish hospitals participated in the registry: ASZ Aalst, St. Blasius Dendermonde, UZ Gent , AZ MMSJ Gent, Jan Palfijn ZH Gent, AZ St. Lucas Gent, AZ Oudenaarde, AZ MM St. Niklaas, AZ Groeninge Kortrijk, HH ZH Menen, HH ZH Roeselare, AZ St. Maarten Mechelen, AZ St. Maarten Duffel , St. Vincentius ZH Antwerpen, Klina Brasschaat, AZ Stuivenberg Antwerpen, ZH Noord-Limburg Lommel, ZOL Genk, and UZ Gasthuisberg Leuven.

PENTA was the result of the combined effort of a lot of people in each hospital. We would like to thank: Mevr. Elena Kourdiokova, Dr. L Vergote, Dr. de Leeuw, Mevr. I De Boeck, Dr. P Vandenbroucke, Dr. K Van Laeken, Dr. Van Bosstraeten, Dhr. A Van Den Steen, Dr. A Verrijckt, Dhr. P Fortain, Dhr. M Jonckers, Mevr. A Van der Gucht, Dr. F Plasschaert, Prof. Dr. D Matthys, Prof. W Buylaert, Mevr. H Goedertier, Dr. K Kamoen, Dr. A De Somer, Dhr. A Roberti, Dr. T Vercruysse, Dr. De Graeve, Dhr. J Goossens, Dhr. Van Quaethem, Dr. B Dewilde, Dr. M Van Der Plaetsen, Dr. Snoeck, Dhr. E De Jonghe, Dr. J Damen, Dr. J Van Tichelen, Dr. G Putzeys, Dr. Struyve, Dhr. G Gunst, Mevr. R Herpoel, Dr. R Demey, Dr. E Coppé, Dhr. C Delie, Dhr. W Seynaeve, Dr. K Spoelders, Dr. F Gijsenbergh, Dhr. L Gijbels, Dr. A Vertruyen, Dr. Druwé, Dhr. L Van De Heijning, Dr. L Mortelmans, Dr. G Smets, Dr. Vundelinckx, Dhr. J De Houer, Mevr. K Smeets, Dr. Y Claessens, Dhr. Ml Hendrickx, Mevr. H Vereecken, and all others who helped in tasks including, collecting, retrieving, etc.

The Flemish paediatric trauma registry (PENTA) was funded by the Flemish Fund for Scientific Research: project Levenslijn.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Paediatrics and Paediatric Intensive Care Unit, University Hospital Gent, 1K12IC, De Pintelaan 185, 9000, Gent, Belgium

    Patrick Van de Voorde, Daphne Christiaens, Annick De Jaeger & Dirk Matthys

  2. Department of Emergency Medicine, University Hospital Leuven–Gasthuisberg, Herestraat 49, 3000, Leuven, Belgium

    Marc Sabbe & Anneleen Vantomme

  3. Department of Emergency Medicine, University Hospital Gent, De Pintelaan 185, 9000, Gent, Belgium

    Paul Calle

  4. Centre for Biostatistics, University of Leuven, Kapucijnenvoer 35d -bus 7001, 3000, Leuven, Belgium

    Emmanuel Lesaffre, Dimitris Rizopoulos & Roula Tsonaka

  5. Department of Biostatistics, Erasmus MC, Dr. Molewaterplein 40, 3015GD, Rotterdam, Netherlands

    Emmanuel Lesaffre

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  1. Patrick Van de Voorde
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  2. Marc Sabbe
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  7. Daphne Christiaens
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  9. Annick De Jaeger
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On behalf of the PENTA Study Group

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Correspondence to Patrick Van de Voorde.

Electronic supplementary material

The A data registration sheet. Unofficial translation in English for informative purposes.

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Van de Voorde, P., Sabbe, M., Calle, P. et al. Paediatric trauma and trauma care in Flanders (Belgium). Methodology and first descriptive results of the PENTA registry. Eur J Pediatr 167, 1239–1249 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00431-007-0660-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00431-007-0660-3

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