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Worldwide Control of Childhood Unintentional Injury

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Pediatric Surgery

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Abstract

Unintentional injury is the leading cause of death worldwide for children age 1–14. Annually in the United States, there are over nine million emergency department visits for injuries and over 16,000 deaths in children and adolescents (Dorney et al., Pediatr Res, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41390-019-0549-7, 2019). Factors associated with childhood injury include social, economic, environmental, and personal factors. Childhood injuries are associated with high costs to the family and to the society in the forms of acute medical care, rehabilitation, and years of potential life lost, as well as unmeasurable emotional costs to their families and loved ones. The five most common causes of injury and death are motor vehicle accidents, drowning, falls, burns, and poisoning. The majority of these injuries are preventable. The vaccine for injury prevention requires identification of risk factors through use of objective data, development of relevant interventions to reduce exposure to hazards, public education, and advocacy for laws that influence behavior, enforcement, and leadership. Children will live productive lives if the surgeon provides leadership and engages in community action to prevent unintentional injury.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Children’s National Medical Center, Washington, DC, USA

    Brendan S. O’Brien & Martin R. Eichelberger

Authors
  1. Brendan S. O’Brien
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  2. Martin R. Eichelberger
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Correspondence to Brendan S. O’Brien .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Our Lady’s Children's Hospital, National Children’s Research Centre, Dublin, Ireland

    Prem Puri

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O’Brien, B.S., Eichelberger, M.R. (2020). Worldwide Control of Childhood Unintentional Injury. In: Puri, P. (eds) Pediatric Surgery. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-38482-0_122-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-38482-0_122-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-38482-0

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