Lawnmower injuries in children.

Over an 8-year period 31 children in the Winnipeg area were admitted to hospital with lawnmower injuries. The accidents were always preventable and were caused by patient or parent carelessness. The wounds were severe, often resulting in amputation of a portion of an extremity. Infection was common; prophylaxis with a broad-spectrum antibiotic and human antitetanus globulin is recommended. Radiography, débridement of the wound with thorough exploration under general anesthesia, and defatting and reapplication of degloved skin should be done initially, then the wound should be reinspected and redressed at 2 to 3 days, and finally closed or skin grafted at 6 to 8 days. Children must be educated about the dangers of lawnmowers and prevented from riding on tractor mowers. The grass catcher should be used and the path cleared of missiles. Hand controls should be mounted on the mower''s handle and the blade should be kept sharp so that the machine''s speed can be reduced.     

Submersion injuries in children younger than 5 years in urban Utah.

Submersion injuries of children younger than 5 years in 4 urban Utah counties from 1984 through 1988 were studied retrospectively to identify associated risk factors. Infants younger than 1 year had the highest rates of both submersion injuries and deaths. The incidence of bathtub drownings was 2 to 3 times higher than reported national rates. All bathtub drownings occurred while the victim was bathing with a young sibling (10 months to 7 years of age) without adult supervision. All drownings in pools and moving bodies of water (rivers, irrigation ditches) resulted from unintentional falls into the water rather than from swimming and wading activities. Drowning prevention strategies should focus on educating parents about the risk of young children bathing with siblings in the absence of adult supervision and fencing regulations for pools and open bodies of moving water.     

Radiodiagnosis of traumatic injuries of the kidneys in children

Altogether 35 children (21 boys and 14 girls) with traumatic renal lesions ages 5 to 14 were examined, of them 23 were subjected to operation 2-13 h after injury, 12 patients received conservative therapy. The patients were divided into 3 groups with relation to a degree of severity of injury: mild (12 patients), moderate (20 patients) and grave (3 patients). All the children were given combined clinical, x-ray and radiological examination. Normally the most informative diagnostic method was excretory urography, particularly its infusion variant. Renography, renoscanning or dynamic renoscintigraphy were employed for observation over time to reduce radiation exposure.