Background:

traumatic brain injury is one of the main causes of infant morbidity and mortality. The sequelae after trauma seriously impact the quality of life of patients and the scientific evidence of associated factors is scarce.

Objective:

to analyze the factors associated with the development of sequelae due to head trauma in children under 15 years old who went to the emergency room of a hospital in Medellín between 2010 and 2014.

Materials and methods:

retrospective cohort study. 812 patients were included in a period of 5 years, of which 294 did not meet the inclusion criteria. Sociodemographic and clinical variables were evaluated and the incidence of sequelae was estimated with 95 % confidence intervals using the Wilson statistical method. The relative risk was calculated using log-binomial regression.

Results:

a total of 518 patients were analyzed. The median age was 5 years, 64,23 % were male children, 75,4 % had mild trauma, and 5 % suffered severe trauma. Falls were the main cause (64,2 %), followed by traffic accidents (25,3 %). The incidence of sequelae was 7,3 % (CI: 5,4% - 9,9 %).

Conclusions:

the burden of disease in the patient after TCE represents a public health problem. The probability of developing a sequel in this study was 7,3 %, which is related to the following factors that identify in the emergency department: diffuse injury, a moderate or severe Glasgow scale on admission, and suffering a traffic accident.

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