Study Reveals Child Chest Injuries Are Common in ATV Accidents

By Andrew Deutsch
Posted on 29 Nov 2016

The results of new study into All-Terrain Vehicle (ATV) accidents involving children have shown that serious chest injuries are common.

Injuries included fractured ribs, and bruised or collapsed lungs, 40% of which required treatment in an Intensive Care Unit (ICU). In the USA alone, in 2014, 24,800 children, under the age of 16, were treated in emergency rooms after being injured in ATV accidents.

Image: An AP supine chest X-ray of a 16-year-old involved in an ATV rollover (Photo courtesy of Radiology Key).

The results were presented at the annual Radiological Society of North America (RSNA2016) meeting in Chicago, USA. The American Academy of Pediatrics has recommended that children younger than 16 years old should not be allowed to ride in ATVs.

The researchers carried out a retrospective review of patients below the age of 18, who underwent chest imaging for ATV-related accidents, between 1992 and 2013. The patients were scanned at a level 1 trauma center in Houston, Texas, USA. Twenty-two percent (102 patients) of the 455 patients admitted during the study period suffered from a chest injury. The most common injury was a pulmonary contusion (61% of patients), followed by pneumothorax (45%), and rib fractures (34%). Eight children with chest injuries later died.

The author of the study, Kelly N. Hagedorn, MD, radiology resident, McGovern Medical School, The University of Texas Health Science Center (Houston, TX, USA), said, "The sheer incidence of chest injuries in pediatric patients evaluated after ATV accidents is rather alarming and not necessarily the type of injuries patients and their families give much forethought to when considering the risks of ATV use. While this study only highlights a specific subset of potential injuries, their incidence and clinical significance cannot be overlooked. Other studies have demonstrated the prevalence of orthopedic and neurologic injuries, and the most recent CPSC report estimates that 23 percent of ATV-related fatalities since 1982 have occurred in children younger than 16. Our study further supports the need for increased public awareness of the risks – and potentially devastating consequences – of ATV use among children."

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The University of Texas Health Science Center