Prehospital ketamine administration to pediatric trauma patients with head injuries in combat theaters

• Published in: The American journal of emergency medicine Vol. 37; no. 8; pp. 1455 - 1459
• Main Authors: Hill, Guyon J., April, Michael D., Maddry, Joseph K., Schauer, Steven G.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 01.08.2019; Elsevier Limited
• Subjects: Adolescent; Age; Analgesia; Analgesia - methods; Analgesia - statistics & numerical data; Child; Child, Preschool; Coding standards; Coma; Craniocerebral Trauma - complications; Craniocerebral Trauma - drug therapy; Craniocerebral Trauma - mortality; Data dictionaries; Demographics; Emergency; Emergency medical care; Emergency Medical Services - statistics & numerical data; Female; Glasgow Coma Scale; Head; Head injuries; Humans; Injuries; Ketamine; Ketamine - administration & dosage; Logistic Models; Male; Pain - drug therapy; Pain Management - methods; Pain perception; Patients; Pediatric; Pediatrics; Prehospital; Registries; Retrospective Studies; Survival; TBI; Trauma; Traumatic brain injury; United States; United States Department of Defense; Ventilators; War-Related Injuries - complications; War-Related Injuries - drug therapy; War-Related Injuries - mortality; United States; United States > US; Afghanistan; Iraq; Head; TBI; Ketamine; Pediatric; Trauma; Prehospital

Head injuries frequently occur in combat. Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TCCC) guidelines recommend pre-hospital use of ketamine for analgesia. Yet the use of this medication in patients with head injuries remains controversial, particularly among pediatric patients. We compare survival to hospital...