Background: A relevant number of visits to pediatric emergency departments (pED) are associated to mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). On March 16th 2020, the Bavarian government declared a first full lockdown (LD) related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Aim: The aim of the study was to investigate the impact of LD on pediatric mTBI.
Methods: Retrospective chart review of presentations to a pED due to mTBI. Study periods covered LD (03/17/2020 through 05/05/2020) and the same time in 2017, 2018, and 2019 as reference period (RP). Comparative analyses were performed by Chi-square or Fisher's exact test.
Results: Numbers of mTBI cases decreased by half. Age distribution did not differ. A significantly higher proportion of mTBI were related to falls at home (p= .001). Further, a higher rate of hospital admissions (p= .03), a higher proportion of ICU admissions (p= .001), a longer duration of hospital stay (p= .02), and a higher rate of intracranial pathologies on neuroimaging was observed during LD (p= .007).
Conclusion: The decrease in mTBI presentations is likely due to an absolute decrease in numbers related to the LD measures, combined with a hesitation to present very minor mTBI to the hospital, because of fear of being infected or not to put additional strain on the health care system during this health care crisis. On the other hand, data of those that presented with mTBI tend to reflect the more severe spectrum of mTBI.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.