• M Maegele, D Engel, B Bouillon, R Lefering, H Fach, M Raum, B Buchheister, U Schaefer, N Klug, and E Neugebauer.
• Department of Surgery, Cologne-Merheim Medical Center, University of Witten-Herdecke, Cologne, Germany. Marc.Maegele@t-online.de
• Eur Surg Res. 2007 Jan 1; 39 (6): 372-9.

IntroductionValid epidemiological data on incidence and outcome of traumatic brain injury (TBI) show great variability. A study on incidence, severity and outcome of TBI was conducted in an urban area of one million inhabitants.Materials And Methods130,000 prehospital emergencies were screened for TBI.Inclusion CriteriaGlasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score or=2 with confirmed TBI via appropriate diagnostics.ResultsAnnual incidence was 7.3/100,000. Overall mortality rate was 45.8%: 182 (28%) were prehospital deaths, 116 (17.8%) patients died in hospital. Two hundred and fourteen of 352 (60.8%) surviving patients were sufficiently rehabilitated at discharge [Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS) score = 1], but 138 patients (39.2%) survived with persisting deficits. GOS was associated with initial GCS and AIS(head).ConclusionThe incidence of TBI was lower compared to the literature. The overall mortality was high, especially prehospital and early in-hospital mortality rates.(c) 2007 S. Karger AG, Basel.

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