Background Paper
of the
American Association of Neurological Surgeons
Congress of Neurological Surgeons
AANS/CNS Joint Section on Neurotrauma and Critical Care
AANS/CNS Joint Section on Pediatric Neurosurgery
on the Subject of
Pediatric Trauma in the United States
Challenges of Ensuring Adequate Trauma Care for the
Pediatric Patient
May 24, 2016
I. OVERVIEW
Trauma care injuries, whether accidental or intentional, account for more deaths — approximately
10,000 annually — among infants, children and adolescents than all other causes combined —
including infectious diseases, cancer and congenital defects.1 The leading contributor causing
death and disability is traumatic brain injury (TBI), and as Figure 1 indicates, unintentional injury is
the leading cause of death in children and young adults from age one through 44. Additionally,
children account for 10 percent of all spinal cord injuries that occur each year.
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