Clinical Analysis of Pediatric Death Patients Visiting Emergency Center

Kim, Do Hyun; Lee, Seong Hun; Lee, Sang Bae; Ryu, Min Hyuk; Lee, Dong Jin

Abstract

PURPOSE
We analyzed pediatric death patients who visited Dong-Kang Hospital emergency center, in order to minimize unexpected pediatric deaths.
METHODS
The authors analyzed retrospectively the medical records of 110 pediatric patients who died before and within 24 hours after admission to the emergency center of Ulsan Dong-Kang General Hospital from January 1997 to December 2002.
RESULTS
We classified three categories by the cause of death, accident group(AG) 46 cases(41.8%), disease group(DG) 37 cases(33.6%), unknown cause group(UG) 27 cases(24.6%) respectively. The most common age was between two and five years of age(50.0%) in AG, under one month (40.5%) in DG, between one month and one year(51.9%) in UG respectively. The most common season was summer(37.0%) in AG, winter(51.4%) in DG, spring(37.1%) in UG respectively. The most common time on arrival was from 13:00 to 18:00(37.0%) in AG, from 7:00 to noon(43.2%) in DG, from midnight to 6:00(29.6%) and from 7:00 to noon(29.6%) in UG respectively. The most common type of accident was traffic accident(47.8%). The most common cause of death in DG was respiratory disorder(40.5%). Sudden infant death syndrome was the most common(37.1%) in unknown cause of death.
CONCLUSION
Accidental injuries and severe chronic illnesses are the major cause of unexpected pediatric death. Legislation related to accidents and a parents teaching program for emergency situations are necessary to decrease cases of unexpected pediatric death.