title: Impact of elevated ICP on outcome after paediatric traumatic brain injury requiring intensive care.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Traumatic brain injury is an important cause of morbidity and mortality in children and adolescents. Moderate to severe brain injuries account for approximately 20 % of all brain injuries, and nearly 50 % of the patients experience neuropsychological sequelae due to the injury. The purposes of this study are, firstly, to describe intensive care management of children with a severe brain injury and, secondly, to study the impact of elevated intracranial pressure on outcome.
  
  
  METHODS
  A retrospective review of medical records was done.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Sixty children were admitted for intensive care during the study period. Seventy-three percent of all children received neurosurgical interventions, 26 children received an intracranial pressure-monitoring device and 14 of those had an elevated intracranial pressure (ICP) >20 mmHg requiring ICP-targeted therapies. Eighty-eight percent of all children reported cognitive impairment at follow-up. No significant correlation was found between the King's Outcome Scale for Childhood Head Injury outcome groups and whether or not the children have had a neurosurgical intervention or were treated with ICP-targeted medical therapies.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Children receiving rehabilitation after a brain injury during childhood make a moderate to good recovery. No significant correlation was found between outcome and whether or not the child had been treated for elevated intracranial pressure.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden. ann-charlotte.falk@karolinska.se
authors.forename: Ann-Charlotte
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Falk
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000150:complications*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003422:Critical Care / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D015600:Glasgow Coma Scale; D006801:Humans; D019586:Intracranial Hypertension / Q000209:etiology* / Q000628:therapy*; D008297:Male; D008991:Monitoring, Physiologic; D009493:Neurosurgery / Q000379:methods*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome