Transcatheter arterial embolisation is efficient and safe for paediatric blunt torso trauma: a case-control study

BACKGROUND: It remains unclear whether transcatheter arterial embolisation (TAE) is as safe and effective for paediatric patients with blunt torso trauma as it is for adults in Japan, owing to few trauma cases and sporadic case reports. The study aimed to compare the efficacy and safety of TAE performed in paediatric (age ≤ 15 years) and adult patients with blunt torso trauma. METHODS: This was a single-centre, retrospective chart review study that included blunt torso trauma patients who underwent TAE in the trauma centre from 2012 to 2017. The comparative study was carried out between a ‘paediatric patient group’ and an ‘adult patient group’. The outcome measures for TAE were the success of haemorrhage control and complications and standardised mortality ratio (SMR). RESULTS: A total of 504 patients with blunt torso trauma were transported to the trauma centre, out of which 23% (N = 114) with blunt torso trauma underwent TAE, including 15 paediatric and 99 adult patients. There was no significant difference between the use of TAE in paediatric and adult patients with blunt torso trauma (29% vs 22%, P = .221). The paediatric patients’ median age was 11 years (interquartile ranges 7–14). The predicted mortality rate and SMR for paediatric patients were lower than those for adult patients (18.3% vs 25.9%, P = .026, and 0.37 vs 0.54). The rate of effective haemorrhage control without repeated TAE or additional surgical intervention was 93% in paediatric patients, which was similar to that in adult patients (88%). There were no complications in paediatric patients at our centre. There were no significant differences in the proportion of paediatric patients who underwent surgery before TAE or urgent blood transfusion (33% vs 26%, P = .566, or 67% vs 85%, P = .084). CONCLUSIONS: It is possible to provide an equal level of care related to TAE for paediatric and adult patients as it relates to TAE for blunt torso trauma with haemorrhage in the trauma centre. Alternative haemorrhage control procedures should be established as soon as possible whenever the patients reach a haemodynamically unstable state.