Accidents in Pediatrics: Risks and integral management. Guatemala 2007-2008

Accidents worldwide constitute one of the first causes of morbidity and mortality at all ages, being more frequent in the ages between birth and 14 years of age, for this reason we carried out a retrospective longitudinal descriptive study of accidents in patients of these ages who arrived at the emergency room of the Hospital Distrital Fray Bartolomé de Las Casas, from May 2007 to May 2008, to identify the cause, the place, the most affected ages and the integral treatment received. The results were presented in tables and expressed in percentages. In the universe studied, patients from 1 to 4 years of age, who were accompanied, and those from 10 to 14 years of age who were alone at the time of the injury, predominated. There was similarity in the occurrence of accidents both in the urban center and in the periphery, with falls being the main cause of accidents and the home the place of greatest occurrence, most of them going before 6 hours to the hospital and receiving outpatient treatment, with the third quarter of the year being the most affected in the incidence of accidents.