Guidelines for the Management of Pediatric Severe Traumatic Brain Injury, Third Edition: Update of the Brain Trauma Foundation Guidelines, Executive Summary

Patrick M Kochanek; Robert C Tasker; Nancy Carney; Annette M Totten; P David Adelson; Nathan R Selden; Cynthia Davis-O'Reilly; Erica L Hart; Michael J Bell; Susan L Bratton; Gerald A Grant; Niranjan Kissoon; Karin E Reuter-Rice; Monica S Vavilala; Mark S Wainwright

doi:10.1093/neuros/nyz051

Guidelines for the Management of Pediatric Severe Traumatic Brain Injury, Third Edition: Update of the Brain Trauma Foundation Guidelines, Executive Summary

Neurosurgery. 2019 Jun 1;84(6):1169-1178. doi: 10.1093/neuros/nyz051.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Critical Care Medicine, Department of Anesthesiology, Pe-diatrics, Bioengineering, and Clinical and Translational Science, Safar Center for Resuscitation Research, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
² Department of Neurology, Department of Anesthesiology, Critical Care and Pain Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital; Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.
³ Pacific Northwest Evidence-based Practice Center, Department of Medical Informatics and Clinical Epidemiology, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, Oregon.
⁴ Deptartment of Pediatric Neurosurgery, BARROW Neurological Institute at Phoenix Children's Hospital, Phoenix, Arizona.
⁵ Department of Neurological Surgery, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, Oregon.
⁶ Department Critical Care Medicine, Children's National Medical Center, Washington, District of Columbia.
⁷ Department of Pediatrics, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah.
⁸ Department of Neurosurgery, Stanford University, Stanford, California.
⁹ Department of Pediatrics, British Columbia's Children's Hospital, Child and Family Research Institute, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
¹⁰ School of Nursing/School of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Critical Care Medicine, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina.
¹¹ Department of Anesthesiology & Pain Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Harborview Injury Prevention and Research Center (HIPRC), University of Washington, Seattle, Washington.
¹² Division of Pediatric Neurology, University of Washington, Seattle Children's Hospital, Seattle, Washington.

PMID: 30822776
DOI: 10.1093/neuros/nyz051

Abstract

The purpose of this work is to identify and synthesize research produced since the second edition of these Guidelines was published and incorporate new results into revised evidence-based recommendations for the treatment of severe traumatic brain injury in pediatric patients. This document provides an overview of our process, lists the new research added, and includes the revised recommendations. Recommendations are only provided when there is supporting evidence. This update includes 22 recommendations, 9 are new or revised from previous editions. New recommendations on neuroimaging, hyperosmolar therapy, analgesics and sedatives, seizure prophylaxis, temperature control/hypothermia, and nutrition are provided. None are level I, 3 are level II, and 19 are level III. The Clinical Investigators responsible for these Guidelines also created a companion algorithm that supplements the recommendations with expert consensus where evidence is not available and organizes possible interventions into first and second tier utilization. The complete guideline document and supplemental appendices are available electronically (https://doi.org/10.1097/PCC.0000000000001735). The online documents contain summaries and evaluations of all the studies considered, including those from prior editions, and more detailed information on our methodology. New level II and level III evidence-based recommendations and an algorithm provide additional guidance for the development of local protocols to treat pediatric patients with severe traumatic brain injury. Our intention is to identify and institute a sustainable process to update these Guidelines as new evidence becomes available.

Keywords: Critical care; Evidence-based medicine; Guidelines; Head injury; Pediatrics; Systematic review; Traumatic brain injury.

Publication types

Practice Guideline

MeSH terms

Brain Injuries, Traumatic / diagnosis
Brain Injuries, Traumatic / etiology
Brain Injuries, Traumatic / therapy*
Child
Humans
Intracranial Pressure
Neuroimaging
Neurophysiological Monitoring
Practice Guidelines as Topic