Hospital Length of Stay for Pediatric TBI: Effects of the Implementation of PECARN Protocol

Background: Decreasing of the hospital length of stay is a goal to be pursued in pediatric patients affected by traumatic brain injury (TBI), this aspect being among the reasons for the need of application of scheduled protocols in the emergency departments.

Objective: To report data about the in-hospital length of stay of a pediatric TBI cohort managed at a level 2 trauma center according to the Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network (PACARN) protocol.

Methods: Data of a consecutive cohort of TBI pediatric patients managed at the emergency department of Foundation IRCCS Policlinic San Matteo, Pavia, Italy, during 2019 were retrospectively reviewed, especially focusing on the hospital stay. PECARN protocol was fully adopted at the same hospital since its dissemination. Medium to high risk TBI or, also, age

Results: 702 patients were managed. 250 were aged

Conclusion: The implementation of the PECARN protocol in pediatric TBI patients resulted in a hospital stay less than 2 hours on average.