Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39911209›Full record

ArticleThe Southern African journal of critical care : the official journal of the Critical Care Society2024

A profile of children with traumatic brain injury admitted to the paediatric intensive care unit of Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa, between 2015 and 2019.

E du Plooy, S Salie, A A Figaji

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Article in The Southern African journal of critical care : the official journal of the Critical Care Society, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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3 · Its place in the literature

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

E du PlooyDepartment of Paediatrics and Child Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Cape Town, South Africa.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4032-2384
S SaliePaediatric Intensive Care Unit, Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital, Cape Town, South Africa.
A A FigajiDivision of Neurosurgery and Neuroscience Institute, Department of Surgery, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, South Africa.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: Paediatric traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a public health problem with high morbidity and mortality. Objectives: To highlight risk factors and describe associated morbidity and mortality of children admitted with TBI to the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) at Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital, Cape Town. Methods: We retrospectively documented the hospitalisation of all children with TBI admitted into our PICU between 2015 and 2019. Results: Of 320 children identified, 314 were enrolled: 267 (85%) had severe TBI (Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) ≤8), 36 (11.5%) moderate TBI (GCS 9 - 12) and 11 (3.5%) mild TBI (GCS ≥13). Median age was 6.5 (interquartile range (IQR) 3.5 - 8.9) years; 194 (61.8%) were male. Motor vehicle collisions accounted for 75% (235) of injuries. Two hundred and seventy-nine (88.9%) children were invasively ventilated for a median of 4.5 (IQR 1 - 8) days; 13.9% (38/273) had a failed extubation and 10.8% (30/277) required tracheostomies. One hundred and sixty-three children (52.2%, n=312) had intracranial pressure monitoring. Almost a third (81/257) required vasopressor support. Approximately 40% (113/286) developed trauma-related seizures; 15.4% (44/286) required a thiopentone infusion and 6% (17/280) a decompressive craniectomy. Common complications were as follows: 12.2% developed post-extubation stridor (34/279), 10.5% a hemiparesis (33/314) and 6.4% diabetes insipidus (19/298). Median PICU stay was 4 (IQR 1 - 10) days, and hospitalisation 11 (IQR 5 - 21) days. Ninety-three (29.6%) children were transferred for further rehabilitation; 38 (12.1%) died. Conclusion: Children admitted to our PICU with TBI had considerable morbidity and mortality, but this is a marked improvement since the 1990s. Enhanced primary preventive strategies, especially for motor vehicle collisions, are imperative to prevent TBI in children. Contribution of the study: Paediatric traumatic brain injury (TBI) is associated with considerable morbidity and mortality. Through our profile of children with TBI admitted to PICU, we hope to contribute to future guidance and interventions to improve the quality of care in this subset of patients.

Indexed as

PICUrisk factorsTBI

Identifiers

PMID39911209
PMCPMC11792590

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.