• John A Myburgh, D James Cooper, Simon R Finfer, Balasubramanian Venkatesh, Daryl Jones, Alisa Higgins, Nicole Bishop, Tracey Higlett, Australasian Traumatic Brain Injury Study (ATBIS) Investigators for the Australian, and New Zealand Intensive Care Society Clinical Trials Group.
• Department of Intensive Care, The St George Hospital, Sydney, Australia.
• J Trauma. 2008 Apr 1;64(4):854-62.

BackgroundAn epidemiologic profile of traumatic brain injury (TBI) in Australia and New Zealand was obtained following the publication of international evidence-based guidelines.MethodsAdult patients with TBI admitted to the intensive care units (ICU) of major trauma centers were studied in a 6-month prospective inception cohort study. Data including mechanisms of injury, prehospital interventions, secondary insults, operative and intensive care management, and outcome assessments 12-months postinjury were collected.ResultsThere were 635 patients recruited from 16 centers. The mean (+/-SD) age was 41.6 years +/- 19.6 years; 74.2% were men; 61.4% were due to vehicular trauma, 24.9% were falls in elderly patients, and 57.2% had severe TBI (Glasgow Coma Scale score ConclusionsIn Australia and New Zealand, mortality and favorable neurologic outcomes after TBI were similar to published data before the advent of evidence-based guidelines. A high incidence of prehospital secondary brain insults and an ageing population may have contributed to these outcomes. Strategies to improve outcomes from TBI should be directed at preventive public health strategies and interventions to minimize secondary brain injuries in the prehospital period.

36 keywords...

hide…