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Paediatric injury surveillance and prevention are definite priorities for the European, Belgian, and Flemish authorities. Current available data for Flanders (Belgium) are fragmentary and out-of-date. The PENTA registry (PaEdiatric Network around TraumA) was therefore set up to obtain recent population-based data on trauma and trauma care in children and youngsters in Flanders. Data were collected prospectively in a representative sample (n = 18) of Flemish emergency departments (ED). All children (age 0-17 years) who presented at the ED in 2005 or died prehospital due to trauma were included. The registry was split into two levels. The basic A registry ('all' trauma) consisted of 30 variables, and the more exhaustive B registry ('severe trauma', defined as length of hospitalisation >48 hours, including all nonsurvivors) collected data on 291 variables. The incidence for paediatric trauma presenting at Flemish ED was approximately 119/1000/year. Further data were collected in a random sample of 7,879 cases (21.9% of 35,900 eligible patients). Of all cases, 0.8% were considered 'severe' and included in the B registry. In conclusion, the 'burden' of injury in Flanders is still enormous. PENTA provides the first population-based data about the circumstances and the extent of injury in children and youngsters for the Flemish region. In this article we present in detail the surplus value of the methods used, the difficulties encountered, and the most relevant epidemiological findings from the registry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Aims: Considerable variability in (paediatric) trauma care has been reported. We wanted to audit current practice in Flanders (Belgium). Methods: The PENTA network prospectively collected data on paediatric trauma patients in a representative sample of Flemish hospitals during 2005. All cases with an ISS≥13 and sufficient data availability were withheld for panel evaluation (n =92). Two trained experts reviewed the medical care provided in the first hours after trauma, based on available evidence and existing universal guidelines. ‘Defaults’ were only withheld as such if there was 100% consensus. At random, about 25% of cases were also reviewed by two other experts in order to assess interobserver variability. Results: In the 92 cases, 264 defaults were recognised. 25.4% of all defaults were thought to have a direct impact on the individual patient''s outcome. Specific difficulties were observed with, e.g. cervical spine management (18/82 relevant cases), pCO2 and global respiratory management (38/92), fluid management (29/92) and analgesia (27/89). The agreement between the two panels was good for defaults identified (crude agreement 74.8%), yet only fair for the presumed impact on outcome (crude agreement 58.3%). Conclusions: We audited paediatric trauma care in Flanders and identified several problem areas (often in basic areas of paediatric life support). The inherent degree of interobserver variability does not diminish the importance of these findings. More performance-based teaching and timely recertification may have a positive impact on the quality of the care delivered. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]