Evaluation of Medico-Legal Cases in the Pediatric Emergency

Objective: Pediatric medico-legal events are important public health problems in the pediatric emergency service. They are considered among the leading causes of pediatric disabilities and deaths. We performed a study to evaluate the demographic features of the medico-legal cases who presented to our pediatric emergency service. Material and Methods: During the 2-years study period, a total of 1586 patients presented to our service and were treated as medico-legal cases. Information about the patients was obtained from hospital records and analysed by the medical staff of the pediatric emergency service. Results: 671 male (42.3%) and 915 female (57.7%) patients were included in our study. The majority of the patients were between 11- 14 years of age (n=397; 25.0%). Drug intake was the major complaint (n= 827; 52.1%) of our patients. Winter was the most common season (n= 486; 30.6%) and January (n=182; 11.5%) was the most common month for medico-legal admissions. The majority of the patients (n=551; 34.75%) presented to our emergency between 18-24 hours. 947 cases (59.7%) had health risks at the time of presentation. Conclusion: Developing effective preventive strategies is essential to prevent child and adolescent injuries.