Reducing Phlebotomy, Length of Stay, Cost: Development of a Blunt Abdominal Trauma Pathway in a Level I, Pediatric Trauma Center

Objectives Blunt abdominal trauma (BAT) is a leading cause of morbidity in children with higher hemodynamic stabilities when compared with adults. Pediatric patients with BAT can often be managed without surgical interventions; however, laboratory testing is often recommended. Yet, laboratory testing can be costly, and current literature has not identified appropriate pathways or specific tests necessary to detect intra-abdominal injury after BAT. Therefore, the present study evaluated a proposed laboratory testing pathway to determine if it safely reduced draws of complete blood counts, coagulation studies, urinalysis, comprehensive metabolic panels, amylase and lipase levels orders, emergency department (ED) length of stay, and cost in pediatric BAT patients. Methods A retrospective review of levels I, II, and III BAT pediatric patients (n = 329) was performed from 2015 to 2018 at our level I, pediatric trauma center. Patients were then grouped based on pre-post pathway, and differences were calculated using univariate analyses. Results After implementation of the pathway, there was a significant decrease in the number of complete blood counts, coagulation studies, urinalysis, comprehensive metabolic panels, amylase, and lipase levels orders (P < 0.05). Postpathway patients had lower average ED lengths of stay and testing costs compared with the pre pathway patients (P < 0.05). There was no increase in rates of return to the ED within 30 days, missed injuries, or readmissions of patients to the ED. Conclusions Results displayed that the adoption of a laboratory testing pathway for BAT patients reduced the number of laboratory tests, ED length of stay, and associated costs pediatric patients without impacting quality care.