Mayerson Center for Safe and Healthy Children

Free / Vertical Falls

Pitone ML, Attia MW.  Patterns of injury associated with routine childhood falls.  Pediatric Emergency Care  2006; 22:470-4.

Methods: 

• Retrospective review of charts of falls down stairs, falls from own height, falls from an object, and other

Results: 

• A total of 787 cases were reviewed 
• 13 percent of falls were down steps, 32 percent were from patients’ own height, 48 percent were from an object, and 6 percent were classified as “other” 
• Head injury was the most frequent diagnosis
• Most head injuries required no interventions or studies
• In one infant, there was a non-displaced skull fracture, but this was not associated with intracranial hemorrhage

Thompson AK, Bertocci G, Rice W, Pierce M.  Pediatric short-distance household falls:  biomechanics and associated injury severity.  Accid Anal Prev  2010; 10:1016

Methods: 

• Prospective study of children 4 years of age or younger with a fall from furniture 
• Only definite accidents and likely accidents were included in the study

Results: 

• 79 cases were reviewed with ages ranging from 1 to 47 months 
• No subjects suffered an injury of 4 or higher on the AIS 
• There were two patients who sustained an AIS score of 3 (serious injury), both of which were small subdural hematomas
• More severe injuries occurred with greater heights

Barlow B, et al. Ten years of experience with falls from a height in children . J Ped Surg 1983;18:509-511.

Methods:

• Sixty-one patients between 1-16 years of age who fell from a height were evaluated

Results:

• Head injuries were second to fractures in frequency of injuries
• 56 patients had head injury: 25 concussions, 17 skull fractures, 13 brain contusions, and one subdural hematoma
• Survival: 100 percent survival if fell <= 3 floors and 50 percent survival between fifth and sixth floors

Conclusions:

• No mortality if fall <3 floors.
• No correlation between age and survival.

Roshkow JE, et al. Imaging evaluation of children after falls from a height: review of 45 cases . Radiology 1990;175:359-363.

Methods:

• Forty-five patients aged 1-12 years who fell from a height of 10 feet or greater were evaluated (patients who were not admitted or dead on arrival to hospital were not included).

Results:

• Head injuries occurred in 42 percent of patients
• 31 patients had skull films and 11 revealed fractures: four linear and seven depressed
• 25 patients had head CT scans: seven linear skull fractures, nine depressed skull fractures, one epidural hemorrhage, four subdural hemorrhages, seven  subarachnoid hemorrhages, two intraventricular hemorrhages and one shearing injury
• The occurrence of head injury was not related to the height of the fall
• Intracranial injury was not necessarily associated with a skull fracture

Conclusions:

• Injury pattern did not correlate with height of fall.
• Significant intracranial injury occurred with falls > 10 feet.

Tarantino CA, et al. Short vertical falls in infants . Ped Emerg Care 1999;115:5-8.

Methods:

• 167 patients <10 months of age (mean 5.2 months) who suffered a vertical fall <=4 feet
• Falls were off bed / couch / surface or dropped by caretaker
• Excluded trajectory falls, striking surfaces or walker-related falls

Results:

• 15 percent of patients had significant injury:
  • seven long bone fractures (three femur fractures; one humerus fracture, two tibia fractures; one clavicle fracture)
  • 18 patients sustained head injuries:
    • two had intracranial hemorrhages (both found to be victims of child abuse)
    • 12 had linear skull fractures
    • four had symptoms of closed head injury but no skull fractures
• 4 / 7 of patients with long bone fractures had a referral to Department of Family Services (DFS); all four were discharged to parents.
• 2 / 2 of the patients with intracranial hemorrhages were found to be victims of child abuse (both confessions).
• 3 / 12 patients with linear skull fractures had a referral to DFS; one was placed in foster care.
• A child with a significant injury was statistically more likely to have been dropped from the arms of a  caretaker (p=.003)

Conclusion:

• Significant although not life-threatening injuries were not uncommon in short falls.
• In this series, no child sustained intracranial, visceral or multiple significant injury from a fall from a surface.
• Being dropped from a caretaker’s arms resulted in a more significant injury than falling from a surface.

Leventhal JM, Thomas SA, Rosenfield NS, Markowitz RI. Fractures in young children Distinguishing child abuse from unintentional injuries . AJDC 1993;147:87-92.

Objective:

• To determine what features would be helpful in distinguishing unintentional from intentional (i.e., abusive) fractures in children.

Methods:

• Retrospective study of the medical charts and roentgenograms of children < 3 years of age with fractures.
• Assessments were made using a seven-point scale to rate the likelihood that the fracture was due to abuse.
• The location of fractures resulting from falls as well as the height of the fall as it relates to the presence of a complicated skull fracture were specifically examined.

Results:

• 215 patients had confirmed fractures; mean age 15.7 months
• 130 children suffered fractures from falls (60 percent)
  • In 14 (11 percent) children the cause was classified as abuse
  • In 12 (9 percent) children the cause was classified as unknown
  • In 104 (80 percent) children the cause was classified as unintentional

Conclusions:

• It is common for children to suffer fractures from falls.
• The greater the height of the fall, the more common it is to suffer a skull fracture.

Rivara FP, Alexander B, Johnston B, Soderberg R.  Population-based study of fall injuries in children and adolescents resulting in hospitalization or death .  Pediatrics  1993; 92:61-3.

Methods: 

• Population-based study from the Washington State Comprehensive Hospital Abstract Reporting System Data
• Children less than 19 years old who sustained injury from falls from 1989 to 1990 and who were admitted to the hospital

Results: 

• Children less than 10 years of age tended to fall from some height and older children tended to fall from their own height level. 
• 42.1 percent of pre-school aged children had head trauma of some kind.
• There were 11 fall-related deaths, with only one occurring in a child under 10 years old.
• Falls from objects such as couches or beds were noted to have very few injuries. 
• Injuries were typically seen in falls from heights over 10 feet.

Kim KA, Wang MY, et al.  Analysis of pediatric head injury from falls .  Neurosurg  2000; 8:Article 3.

Methods: 

• Retrospective study of 729 cases of children younger than 15 years old with complains of fall causing trauma
• Cases were divided into “high falls” (15 feet or more) and “low falls” (less than 15 feet)

Results: 

• Overall mortality for both groups was 1.7 percent.  (2.4percent in the high fall group and 1 percent for the low fall group)
• Intracranial hemorrhage was found in 8.6 percent of patients in the high fall group.

Warrington SA, Wright CM, ALSPAC Study Team.  Accidents and resulting injuries in premobile infants:  data from the ALSPAC study .  Arch Dis Child  2001; 85:104-7

Methods: 

• This study utilized information from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC)
  • Postal questionnaires were mailed out at 4 weeks, 6 months, 15 months, and 18 months
• At 6 months, moms were asked to describe any accident, and their responses were categorized as “falls” or “burns”

Results: 

• Data were available for 11,466 children
• In this group, 3,357 falls were found in 2,554 children
• In 437 cases, there was some form of injury 
• More than half of these were bruises
• Serious injury, including concussion or fracture, occurred in 21 cases (less than 1 percent)
• There were four skull fractures, three of which were not admitted to the hospital
• The most common injuries were to the head (97percent) and the most common mechanism was due to fall from a couch or similar piece of furniture

Johnson K, Fischer T, et al.  Accidental head injuries in children under 5 years of age .  Clin Radiology  2005; 60:464-8.

Methods: 

• Prospective study of 72 children aged 4 months to 4.75 years of age with head injuries after a fall
• To be considered for the study, event must have been witnessed by more than one observer, occurred within hours of arrival in the emergency department and determined to be a domestic accident
• Follow-up was maintained for six to nine months.

Results: 

• Fall height ranged from less than 50 cm to greater than 3 meters.  (Most were less than 1 meter)
• Skull radiography was done in 32 children and four were identified as sustaining fractures.
• No children developed neurologic symptoms at any point in the study.

• The majority of accidental domestic falls do not cause skull fracture without significant height or fall onto a small, focused point or area.