Causes and circumstances of injuries in children.

The problem of the incidence of traumas among children is still topical and statistical data confirm an increasing tendency in the last decades. The purpose of the work was to estimate the causes and circumstances of injuries in children at the age of 7 to 15, who were admitted to Surgical Ward of Specialist Paediatric Hospital in Kielce between 30th June 1997 and 30th June 1998. A retrospective analysis of medical documentation concerned 768 patients. Our studies showed that the biggest number of injuries was related to children 10-12 years old (46%). The majority of patients were boys. Most injuries occurred in summer (33%). In the studied population dominant were accidents at home (56%) and then road accidents (18%), injuries at school (13%) and on farms (7%). Accidents and injuries occurred more often in children from the rural areas (53%).