• Mabrouk Bahloul, Hedi Chelly, Anis Chaari, Imen Chabchoub, Sondes Haddar, Leila Herguefi, Hassen Dammak, Chokri Ben Hamida, Hichem Ksibi, Hatem Kallel, Noureddine Rekik, and Mounir Bouaziz.
• Medical Intensive Care Unit, CHU H Bourguiba, Sfax, Tunisia.
• J Emerg Trauma Shock. 2011 Jan 1; 4 (1): 29-36.

BackgroundTo determine predictive factors of mortality among children after isolated traumatic brain injury.Materials And MethodsIn this retrospective study, we included all consecutive children with isolated traumatic brain injury admitted to the 22-bed intensive care unit (ICU) of Habib Bourguiba University Hospital (Sfax, Tunisia). Basic demographic, clinical, biochemical, and radiological data were recorded on admission and during ICU stay.ResultsThere were 276 patients with 196 boys (71%) and 80 girls, with a mean age of 6.7 ± 3.8 years. The main cause of trauma was road traffic accident (58.3%). Mean Glasgow Coma Scale score was 8 ± 2, Mean Injury Severity Score (ISS) was 23.3 ± 5.9, Mean Pediatric Trauma Score (PTS) was 4.8 ± 2.3, and Mean Pediatric Risk of Mortality (PRISM) was 10.8 ± 8. A total of 259 children required mechanical ventilation. Forty-eight children (17.4%) died. Multivariate analysis showed that factors associated with a poor prognosis were PRISM > 24 (OR: 10.98), neurovegetative disorder (OR: 7.1), meningeal hemorrhage (OR: 2.74), and lesion type VI according to Marshall tomographic grading (OR: 13.26).ConclusionIn Tunisia, head injury is a frequent cause of hospital admission and is most often due to road traffic injuries. Short-term prognosis is influenced by demographic, clinical, radiological, and biochemical factors. The need to put preventive measures in place is underscored.

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