Comparing orthopaedic paediatric trauma in a rural district general hospital and an urban major trauma centre: A retrospective cohort study

BACKGROUND: Studies from countries such as Australia and South Africa have demonstrated a difference in the types of injury managed in rural hospitals compared to larger, urban hospitals and so conclude staff require a different skill-set to work in these environments. There is some evidence this attitude may be prevalent amongst UK surgical trainees, resulting in difficulty recruiting to rural settings. In addition, studies have compared mortality in paediatric trauma patients in rural and urban hospitals, but none have described types of injury or orthopaedic operations required. We hypothesise the distribution of operative, orthopaedic paediatric trauma in a rural district general and an urban major trauma centre will not differ significantly in terms of patterns and mechanism of injury, orthopaedic intervention or time to theatre. MATERIALS/METHODS: All operative paediatric patients (0–15yrs) seen during an acute orthopaedic take at a rural district general and an urban major trauma centre were included. Non-operative admissions were excluded. Patients were identified using daily trauma work lists from each site. Outcomes were age, injury type, operation, time to theatre, seasonality and mechanism. RESULTS: 183 patients from the urban hospital and 103 from the rural were identified. There were no significant differences found in age of patient, seasonality or time to theatre between cohorts (p > 0.05). There were also broadly similar patterns of injury and operations performed in both groups, although k-wiring was more often employed in the rural cohort than the urban (27% vs 17% of total operations). There were more bicycle and shinty related injuries in the rural cohort, and equine related in the urban. CONCLUSIONS: Paediatric trauma admissions do not vary significantly between rural and urban trauma centres, although the types of procedure performed may be less conservative in a rural hospital. This may be due to geography or differences in ED practice.