Treatment Practices and Outcomes After Blunt Cerebrovascular Injury in Children

BACKGROUND: Pediatric blunt cerebrovascular injury (BCVI) lacks accepted treatment algorithms, and postinjury outcomes are ill defined. OBJECTIVE: To compare treatment practices among pediatric trauma centers and to describe outcomes for available treatment modalities. METHODS: Clinical and radiographic data were collected from a patient cohort with BCVI between 2003 and 2013 at 4 academic pediatric trauma centers. RESULTS: Among 645 pediatric patients evaluated with computed tomography angiography for BCVI, 57 vascular injuries (82% carotid artery, 18% vertebral artery) were diagnosed in 52 patients. Grade I (58%) and II (23%) injuries accounted for most lesions. Severe intracranial or intra-abdominal hemorrhage precluded antithrombotic therapy in 10 patients. Among the remaining patients, primary therapy was an antiplatelet agent in 14 (33%), anticoagulation in 8 (19%), endovascular intervention in 3 (7%), open surgery in 1 (2%), and no treatment in 16 (38%). Among 27 eligible grade I injuries, 16 (59%) were not treated, and the choice to not treat varied significantly among centers (P
Source: Neurosurgery - Category: Neurosurgery Tags: Research-Human-Clinical Studies Source Type: research