Pediatric Blunt Abdominal Trauma: Interobserver Agreement of Historical and Physical Findings

Agreement was at least fair for most variables, but the study provides no information on their predictive ability for intra-abdominal injury.

Investigators evaluated interobserver agreement for historical and physical exam findings in 632 children (mean age, 10 years) with blunt torso trauma who presented to the 20 emergency departments in the Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network (PECARN) during a 3-year period. Two clinicians (attendings or fellows in general emergency medicine, pediatric emergency medicine, pediatrics, or surgery) independently evaluated each patient within 60 minutes of each other, before laboratory and imaging results were known.

As determined using a kappa statistic with pre-defined cutoffs, interobserver agreement was acceptable for injury mechanism; complaint of abdominal pain; presence, location, and degree of abdominal tenderness; vomiting/re…

Reviewing Author

Katherine Bakes, MD

Disclosures

RoyaltiesEmergency Medicine Secrets (Elsevier)

Grant/Research SupportDepartment of Justice

Editorial BoardsEmergency Medicine Secrets (Elsevier); Rosen’s Emergency Medicine (Elsevier)

Katherine Bakes, MD

Disclosures

RoyaltiesEmergency Medicine Secrets (Elsevier)

Grant/Research SupportDepartment of Justice

Editorial BoardsEmergency Medicine Secrets (Elsevier); Rosen’s Emergency Medicine (Elsevier)

Pediatric Blunt Abdominal Trauma: Interobserver Agreement of Historical and Physical Findings

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Reviewing Author