Pediatric Traumatic Brain Injury: Tragic, Costly, and More Common Than You Think

13 Sep Pediatric Traumatic Brain Injury: Tragic, Costly, and More Common Than You Think

In 2013 alone, there were approximately 282,000 traumatic brain injury (TBI) related hospitalizations and 56,000 TBI-related deaths.¹ From 2007 to 2013, TBI-related emergency department visits increased by 47%.²  Traumatic injuries for infants, children, and adolescents account for more deaths than all other causes combined, including cancer, congenital defects, and infectious diseases.³ As early as 2000, it was estimated that pediatric trauma would cost $14 billion in lifetime medical spending in addition to $66 billion in present and future work losses related to hospital cost, lifelong disability, and specialized care.⁴

Two reputable neurosurgeons, Dr. Clemens M. Schrimer, Vice-Chair of The American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) and the Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS) Communications and Public Relations Committee, and Dr. Shelly D. Timmons, President Elect of AANS and the Vice Chair for Administration and Director of Neurotrauma, Department of Neurosurgery at Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, wrote an article for the Neurosurgery Blog discussing pediatric TBI.⁵ This article states that many times injured children must rely on less specialized emergency departments for trauma care. “Having well-developed trauma systems is therefore critical to provide access to timely neurosurgical and other surgical care, transfer to next-level centers after stabilization and treatment of immediate life-threatening injuries, and provision of specialized services such as rehabilitation after injury.”

Qmetis brings the most up-to-date guidelines to any treatment center, allowing for even less specialized departments to provide the best treatment. Much of the lifesaving care for traumatic brain injury is time-dependent, requiring the clinicians to understand the best-practice while at the patient’s bedside. Dr. Schrimer and Dr. Timmons write in their blog article, “there is work to be done to provide universal, timely, and high-quality access to pediatric trauma care through ongoing systems development and support.” Qmetis has done that work through its decision-support tools. Assisting nurses and doctors in a real-time web-based program, Qmetis brings the accepted treatment protocols to any location.

References

1. Taylor CA, Bell JM, Breiding MJ, Xu L. Traumatic Brain Injury–Related Emergency Department Visits, Hospitalizations, and Deaths — United States, 2007 and 2013. MMWR Surveill Summ 2017;66(No. SS-9):1–16.
2. “Traumatic Brain Injury & Concussion.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 27 Apr. 2017, www.cdc.gov/traumaticbraininjury/get_the_facts.html.
3. Arias E, MacDorman MF, Strobino DM, Guyer B. Annual summary of vital statistics. Pediatrics. 2003;112:1215–30.
4. Miller TR, Romano EO, Spicer RS. The cost of childhood unintentional injuries and the value of prevention. Future Child. 2000;10:137–63.
5. Schirmer, Clemens M, and Timmons, Shelly D. “Ensuring Adequate Pediatric Trauma Care.” Neurosurgery Blog, American Association of Neurological Surgeons/Congress of Neurological Surgeons, 10 Aug 2017, www.neurosurgeryblog.org/2017/08/10/ensuring-adequate-pediatric-trauma-care/