Prevalence of psychosocial interventions for pediatric dog bite injury: Is the bark actually worse than the bite?

Long-term psychological effects may occur after childhood dog bite injuries. We performed a national survey to assess psychosocial interventions for children presenting with dog bite injuries to pediatric trauma centers.

A 26-question, online survey was administered to Pediatric Trauma Program Managers in the United States (n = 83). The survey queried whether institutions provide directed psychosocial interventions to pediatric dog bite injury patients in the Emergency Department, inpatient, or outpatient settings and the types of interventions being used. Descriptive statistics were performed to demonstrate survey results.

In total, 28 American College of Surgeons or State-verified Pediatric Trauma Centers responded to the survey (n = 28/83, 34%). Of the respondents, 18 (64.3%) did not have any interventions in place to address the psychosocial effects of pediatric patients’ dog bite injuries. Of the 10 (35.7%) institutions with interventions in place, the types of psychosocial resources offered included: automated order sets within the electronic medical record, specialized teams that assess the patient while hospitalized or outpatient, child psychology referrals initiated at discharge, pet therapy, and trauma resiliency programs.

Most institutions surveyed did not have protocols or interventions in place to address psychosocial disturbances in children with dog bite injuries. We provide the example of our institution’s practice, in which automatic psychology consults are placed for every child who is admitted with a dog bite injury. Performing caregiver education in the emergency department, providing caregivers with regional psychosocial resources, and communicating with a child’s pediatrician may promote the necessary standardized psychological screening and/or follow up of these patients.