Citation

Fitzgerald M. ANZ J. Surg. 2023; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2023, Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/ans.18695

PMID

37710914

Abstract

There is a disproportionally limited awareness of traumatic brain injury (TBI) among medical professionals and the broader community, which means that people often do not seek or receive best-practice care for brain injuries, particularly mild TBI/concussions. For those who do seek care for mild TBI, treatment options are restricted. In severe TBI the improvements in clinical outcomes are seriously lagging improvements for other major contributors of traumatic deaths such as haemorrhage and multiple organ failure. While clinicians tend to be aware of severe TBI's detrimental outcomes, the latest clinical research findings, and the opportunities and challenges in translating laboratory sciences are less known. Large-scale data collection and education are parts of the solution needed to identify predictors of outcomes in order to develop better-personalized care models and improve outcomes at the level of the individual.

In 2018, representatives of the TBI research and clinical sectors were brought together by Neurosciences Victoria, to discuss how to address the need for large-scale data collection and in so doing, improve lives for patients following TBI of all severities, from concussion through to severe TBI. The resultant 'Impact-TBI' overarching initiative brought together paramedics, emergency physicians, intensivists, trauma surgeons, neurosurgeons, neurologists, psychiatrists, neuroscience researchers, neuropsychologists, rehabilitation experts and advocacy groups from all States and Territories in Australia, meetings of which I was privileged to Chair. The team members represented major hospitals including in regional areas such as the Hunter Valley, Universities and Medical Research Institutes from around the country...

Language: en