Lesson of the week: Delayed presentation of handlebar injuries in children

doi:10.1136/bmj.322.7297.1288

BMJ 2001;322:1288-1289 ( 26 May )

Clinical review

Lesson of the week

Delayed presentation of handlebar injuries in children

Initial assessment of children with abdominal trauma from bicycle handlebars may provide false reassurances

Jimmy P H Lam, senior house officer, Graeme J Eunson, senior house officer, Fraser D Munro, consultant paediatric surgeon, John D Orr, consultant paediatric surgeon.

Department of Paediatric Surgery, Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Edinburgh EH9 1LF

Correspondence to: F D Munro fdmunro@rcsed.ac.uk

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Accidents represent the largest single cause of death in childhood. Although head injuries are the major cause of mortalityand morbidity after bicycle accidents in children, abdominal injuriesare not uncommon. Bicycle accidents account for 5-14% of bluntabdominal trauma in children.^1-3 In general, injuries to thespleen, liver, or kidneys are readily evident soon after the accident;however, injuries to the bowel and pancreas often present lateand result in greatermorbidity.

Case reports

Case 1
An 11 year old boy fell off his bicycle andsustained a handlebar injury to his upper abdomen. He attendedhis general practitioner on the same day because of abdominalpain and vomiting, which was treated with an antiemetic drug.For the next 18 days the boy had vomiting, anorexia, weight loss,and increased epigastric pain. He was then referred to the localsurgical unit forassessment.

Examination showed that he was anxious and pale, with a . . . [Full text of this article]

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Duodenal haematoma occurs in children with bicycle injuries: David Bass
BMJ 2001 323: 754. [Extract] [Full Text]

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Bass, D. (2001). Duodenal haematoma occurs in children with bicycle injuries. BMJ 323: 754-754 [Full text]