Pediatric Traumatic Brain Injury: Outcomes and Rehabilitation

Abstract

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) remains a leading cause of injury-related death and morbidity in children worldwide. Patients are frequently left with physical, neuropsychological, and behavioral deficits. These poor outcomes present significant challenges to the patients' development and well-being, and have far-reaching consequences for their families and larger communities, as well as the rehabilitative health sector. Both injury and noninjury factors and the interaction between them play an important role in determining outcome. Long-term, appropriately focused rehabilitation from a multidisciplinary team can have a meaningful impact on patient recovery; however, poor access to resources may limit the benefits of rehabilitation on pediatric TBI (pTBI) outcomes. Conducting globally generalizable outcomes research is methodologically and practically challenging, and the efficacy and benefits of rehabilitation are similarly difficult to assess. However, research on the outcomes and rehabilitation of pTBI is continually evolving. In this chapter, we discuss the outcomes of pTBI across a range of domains (clinical, neuropsychological, behavioral, psychiatric, academic, and familial), factors which impact on these outcomes, the tools and challenges of outcome assessment, and approaches to rehabilitation.