CDC Study Finds that Adoption of the Brain Trauma Foundation Guidelines Could Result in a Substantial Reduction in Traumatic Brain-Injury-Related Deaths

The December 2007 issue of the Journal of Trauma: Injury, Infection, and Critical Care  (now named the Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery) features a study conducted by CDC on the effectiveness of adopting the Brain Trauma Foundation (BTF) in-hospital guidelines for the treatment of adults with severe traumatic brain injury (TBI).

The findings presented in this article demonstrate that widespread adoption of these guidelines could result in a 50% decrease in deaths, and a savings of approximately $288 million in medical and rehabilitation costs. In addition, the study concludes that adopting these guidelines could result in $3.8 billion—the estimated lifelong savings in annual societal costs for severely injured TBI patients.

This study demonstrates that routine use of these guidelines could result in a substantial reduction in deaths and medical, rehabilitative, and societal costs.

The BTF guidelines for in-hospital care were developed over 10 years ago, in collaboration with the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS). Companion guidelines for pre-hospital care were prepared with the support of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and issued later. Although disseminated widely, these guidelines need far greater implementation.

To purchase this special issue, access the publisher’s website.
(CDC is unable to provide free copies because of copyright regulations.)