In order to describe the epidemiological profile of trauma victims of road traffic accidents and to determine the risk factors associated with severity of road accidents, a descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out in the pediatric surgical emergencies department of Children's hospital in Rabat, Morocco.
During 2010, the clinical and epidemiological data of 163 patients was gathered from the admission records and then analyzed. The males represented the 67% of all the victims. The days in which recorded the maximum of cases were the working days (645%). Eighty eight percent of the cases occurred within the urban perimeter and the majority (78%) of the victims belonged to that perimeter. The head injuries were the most frequent injury (51.5%), followed by lesions of the lower limbs (47.2%). As for the degree of severity, the children mainly presented moderate lesions (26.8%). The transportation of the victims to the hospital was provided by the families themselves in 43.6% of the times; 28.8% by the public ambulance and 11% of the times by Civil Protection Department.
The delay of reaching the pediatric surgical emergencies department of Children's Hospital in Rabat remained under the mark of one hour for 34.1% of the patients. The outcome was favorable in 92% for cases without sequel and 8% for cases with sequel.