Management of traumatic brain injury in adult—A cross‐sectional national study

Background Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) is a common cause for seeking care. Previous studies have shown considerable variations in TBI management. New guidelines may have influenced management routines. Methods This is a descriptive cross‐sectional study, collecting data through structured que...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Health science reports 2023-11, Vol.6 (11), p.e1651-n/a
Main Authors: Modin, Albert, Wickbom, Fredrik, Kamis, Christian, Undén, Johan
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adults
Clinical Medicine
Consciousness
critical care medicine
Departments
Emergency medical care
emergency medicine
Head injuries
health economics and evaluation
Hospitals
Klinisk medicin
Medical and Health Sciences
Medical imaging
Medicin och hälsovetenskap
Mortality
Neurologi
Neurology
Original Research
Physicians
Questionnaires
Radiation
radiology & imaging
Response rates
Trauma
Traumatic brain injury
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Summary:Background Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) is a common cause for seeking care. Previous studies have shown considerable variations in TBI management. New guidelines may have influenced management routines. Methods This is a descriptive cross‐sectional study, collecting data through structured questionnaires. All Swedish emergency hospitals that manage and treat adult patients with mTBI (Reaction Level Scale [RLS] 1–3, Glasgow Coma Scale [GCS] 13–15, age > 18 years) for the initial 24 h after injury were included in this study. Results The response rate among hospitals fulfilling the study criteria's was 61/67 (91%). We observed a distinct predominance of nonspecialists being responsible for the initial management of these patients, with general surgeons and ED‐physicians being the dominating specialties. A total of 45/61 (74%) of the hospitals use a guideline when managing TBI, with 12 hospitals (20%) stating that no guideline was used. Conclusion In general, established guidelines are used for the management of TBI in Sweden. However, some of these are outdated and several hospitals used local guidelines not based upon reliable evidence‐based methodology. Most patients with TBI are managed by nonspecialist doctors, stressing the need of a reliable guideline.
ISSN:2398-8835
2398-8835
DOI:10.1002/hsr2.1651