I am very thankful for the opportunity to act as a Guest Editor in this special issue of Current Pediatric Review. We hope to
examine the advancement and opportunities that lie in the care of the acutely traumatized child. As the sole leading cause of
death, the pursuit of knowledge in the care of traumatized children remains as important and as relevant as ever. Whether in the
role of primary care providers or pediatricians, or as specialized emergency physicians, the acquisition of knowledge of the
different facets of care will be of significant interest.
As a profession, we should be proud that we have advanced far beyond treating these patients as “little adults”, and take
pride that many advances in adult trauma care have led to the adoption of practices initiated and refined within pediatrics.
We start this issue with a topic of great importance, traumatic brain injury. Through the understanding of the many different
modalities of treatment options described by Belisle et al., [1] we can begin to strive for the very best outcome in these children.
The role of various fluids and medications is also of great importance not only in traumatic brain injury, but in polytrauma.
Discussion on different treatments and their application is presented expertly by Dr. Misir and Mehrotra [2]. Moving
forward, various special circumstances demand discussion as their treatment options, and pitfalls to watch out and they are important
to preserve the best outcomes for our patients. Mehrotra et al. [3]. tackle the two common situations of temperature
disturbances, and thermal injuries.
One of the largest changes in practice has been in our knowledge of the alleviation and treatment of pain in children, especially
with the removal of codeine in the modern era. Poonai et al. [4]. provide an excellent insight into the current care standards
and directions moving forward. Another example of something new in trauma care for children, we are delighted that
Istasy et al., [5] were able to provide a 2017 review on point of care ultrasound and it’s various applications in children.
Although trauma is the leading cause of death in children, it needn’t be. As health care advocates, the importance of injury
prevention and advocacy for safety is clear. We thank Forward et al. [6] for providing us insight into the history and direction
of injury prevention today.
Last but certainly not the least, we thank Loubani et al. and Lynch et al. [7, 8] for providing excellent reviews on the management
of orthopedic and abdominal trauma, respectively. Certainly, these two areas are extremely common, and also add to
the significant morbidity and mortality of traumatic injuries in children.
I would like to send my sincere thanks to all of the authors foe their assistance in these various areas, for their hard work
and dedication. I hope that you will find this collection of topics useful and interesting.
