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To determine the association between the seat belt sign (a continuous area of erythema, ecchymosis, or abrasion across the abdomen) and intra-abdominal injuries among children in motor vehicle collisions (MVCs), investigators conducted a planned subanalysis of a prospective study of 12,000 children with blunt torso trauma presenting during 3 years to 20 emergency departments in the Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network (PECARN).
Of 3740 children (median age, 12 years) with blunt torso trauma after an MVC, 249 (7%) had intra-abdominal injuries, and 88 (2%) underwent acute intervention (defined as abdominal injury resulting in laparotomy, embolization, blood transfusion, intravenous fluids for ≥2 nights) or died. A total of 585 chi…