Functional outcomes following injury in pediatric patients without traumatic brain injury

• Severe neck/extremity/pelvis injury and lower GCS were related to worse function. • Physical disability was a unique predictor in toddlers/preschoolers. • Adolescents with lower SBP or with severe chest injury have worse function. Pediatric trauma patients often have disability after successful resuscitation for hemorrhage. Clinical characteristics related to dependency on living following injury were elucidated among pediatric patients without traumatic brain injury. This retrospective cohort study used the 2019–2021 Japan Trauma Data Bank and included pediatric patients aged ≤16 years without head injury (Abbreviated Injury Scale [AIS] ≥ 2). The unfavorable function was defined as dependency in daily life at discharge (Glasgow Outcome Scale ≤ 3), and predictors for unfavorable functional outcomes were examined using a generalized estimating equations (GEE) model, including age, sex, physical disability before injury, injury mechanism, transportation time, prehospital procedures, vital signs on arrival, surgery in each body region, transfusion, AIS in each region, and institutions. Furthermore, these factors were analyzed separately in toddler/preschool (≤5 years), school age (6–11 years), and adolescence (12–16 years). Among 1,412 patients eligible for the study, 137 had an unfavorable physical function at discharge. The GEE model revealed that female sex, physical disability before injury, prehospital transfusion, lower Glasgow Coma Score (GCS) score on arrival, neck surgery, and higher AIS in the neck and extremity/pelvis were independently associated with unfavorable function at discharge. In age-specific analyses, physical disability before injury strongly predicted worse functional outcomes in toddlers/preschoolers, whereas higher AIS in the chest and lower systolic blood pressure on arrival were additional predictors of dependent living among adolescents. Severe neck/extremity/pelvis injury and lower GCS on arrival are associated with unfavorable functional outcomes in patients with pediatric trauma.