Selects Pediatric Trauma Leaders from Cincinnati Children’s and Dayton Children’s Hospital
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (March 5, 2019) – After a rigorous review process, the Childress Institute for Pediatric Trauma has selected Dr. Richard Falcone and his team at Cincinnati Children’s and Dr. Shobhan Vachhrajani and his team at Dayton Children’s Hospital to receive grant funding based on their overall impact to enhance standard pediatric trauma care practices. Cincinnati Children’s project is titled “Prospective, Observational, Multicenter Study of Optimal Resuscitation in Pediatric Trauma,” and Dayton Children’s Hospital’s project is titled “Defining the operating characteristics of near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) in the diagnosis of pediatric traumatic intracranial hemorrhage.”
“Results from our research will improve the care of severely injured children,” said Dr. Falcone, Director of Trauma Services at Cincinnati Children’s. “Additional data is needed to develop a consensus on the optimal timing and composition of resuscitation in hemorrhaging pediatric trauma patients. The funding from the Childress Institute enables us to conduct this prospective, observational, multi-center study which represents a unique partnership of adult and pediatric centers to improve child outcomes.”
Dr. Falcone’s team will help define the appropriate timing and type of blood products to utilize to improve outcomes for severely injured children at trauma centers. There is currently significant variability regarding the timing of initiating the use of blood products in children following severe injuries and hemorrhagic shock. This project is a partnership with members of the Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma (EAST) and the Pediatric Trauma Society (PTS), and now the Childress Institute. The study includes a total of 26 trauma centers across the country contributing valuable patient information to improve care. Co-Investigators on this study include Dr. Adam Vogel of Texas Children’s and Dr. Stephanie Polities, Pediatric Surgical Fellow at Oregon Health and Science University.
“Head trauma, of which minor head injury is most common, remains a big problem in our country,” said Dr. Vachhrajani, pediatric neurosurgeon and clinical epidemiologist at Dayton Children’s Hospital. “We continue to expose a large number of children to the potentially dangerous long-term effects of CT scans in the hope that we don’t miss an important brain injury. By proving, through our research, that near infrared spectroscopy can reliably detect bleeding in the head, we aim to decrease the use of CT scan in this vulnerable population and save them the potential risk of cancer later in life. The award from the Childress Institute for Pediatric Trauma will allow us to study our large population of head injury patients at Dayton Children’s Hospital with the hope that we can lead a paradigm shift in the way children with head injuries are diagnosed.”
Co-Investigators on the Dayton Children’s Hospital study include Dr. Jeffrey Pence, Karen Herzing and Lisa Schwing.
“The Childress Institute is committed to funding research that can improve care for children across America,” said the Childress Institute’s Executive Director Bob Gfeller. “There aren’t enough funding sources out there for pediatric trauma research, yet it’s the number one killer of kids in the U.S. Results from both of these well-deserving projects could have a large scale impact by collaborating and sharing results that can save injured children, no matter where they get treated.”
In 2018, the Childress Institute announced the availability of research funds for a project focused on improving treatment for pediatric trauma patients. Previous grants were awarded to pediatric trauma leaders Dr. Vincent Duron at New York-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital at Columbia University Medical Center, Dr. Frederick Rivara at the University of Washington in Seattle and Dr. Lawrence Cook at the University of Utah School of Medicine.
For more information please visit https://saveinjuredkids.org, or on social media at https://www.facebook.com/SaveInjuredKids or Twitter @injuredkids.
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About the Childress Institute for Pediatric Trauma
Life threatening injury is the No. 1 killer of kids in America. Nearly 10,000 children lose their lives every year from serious injuries. In addition, almost 300,000 children are hospitalized and over 8 million children are treated in the emergency department for serious injuries each year, many of whom struggle with long-term recoveries and disabilities. It can happen anywhere, at any time, to any child. The Childress Institute for Pediatric Trauma discovers and shares the best ways to prevent and treat severe injuries in children. The Institute funds research, education and advocacy to help improve the care and treatment injured kids receive across the U.S. The Childress Institute was founded at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in 2008 through a generous gift from Richard and Judy Childress. Visit www.SaveInjuredKids.org to learn more.
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