Incidence of Neck Pain in Pediatric Mild Traumatic Brain Injury in the Emergency Department

Objective To determine (1) the frequency of reported cervical spine pain in patients diagnosed with mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) in the Children's Hospital of Wisconsin emergency department (ED), and (2) the predictors of number of follow up visits for concussion related symptoms between those with and without neck pain.

Background There has been little research on the frequency of concomitant injury, specifically neck pain associated with TBI in the pediatric population. Given the potential influence of neck pain on recovery from mTBI, we sought to report on the frequency of reported neck pain in the sample of pediatric ED patients reporting mTBI symptoms.

Design/Methods The sample was obtained through a retrospective analysis in the setting of Children's Hospital of Wisconsin Emergency Department with a subject selection of patients diagnosed with a concussion/mTBI between the dates of 11/1/2015–06/30/2018.

Results We analyzed 652 charts. The frequency of reported neck pain in the pediatric population being evaluated for mTBI in the ED was 13.8%. Of these patients, 32.2% had subsequent follow up visits related to their concussion/neck pain compared to 31.1% in patients without neck pain in the ED. In regards to the TBI cause, 47.8% were due to accidental falls, 40.3% were due to other accidents not related to motor vehicles, and 10.0% were due to motor vehicle accidents.

Conclusions In comparison to the adult mTBI population, the pediatric mTBI population had a significantly less reported frequency of neck pain in the ED. This is not surprising as the majority of adults presenting for concussions and neck pain are post-motor vehicle accidents, whereas the majority of children are presenting after accidental falls. There did not seem to be an association between concussions with concomitant neck pain and prolonged recovery or increased morbidity as determined by follow up visits.