How effective are some common treatments for traumatic brain injury?

doi:10.1136/bmj.a865

Published 14 August 2008, doi:10.1136/bmj.a865
Cite this as: BMJ 2008;337:a865

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How effective are some common treatments for traumatic brain injury?

Katharine Ker, research fellow, Pablo Perel, clinical lecturer, Karen Blackhall, trials search coordinator, Cochrane Injuries Group, Ian Roberts, professor of epidemiology and public health

¹ Nutrition and Public Health Intervention Research Unit, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Keppel Street, London WC1E 7HT

Correspondence to: K Ker Katharine.Ker@lshtm.ac.uk

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Surveys show that mannitol, hyperventilation, cerebrospinalfluid drainage, and barbiturates are commonly used in the UnitedKingdom, Europe, and the United States to treat traumatic braininjury.¹ ² ³ Yet the effects of such treatments are uncertain.

Traumatic brain injury is a major cause of death and disabilityworldwide. Every year at least 10 million people sustain a traumaticbrain injury serious enough to result in death or admissionto hospital.⁴ Bearing in mind that almost half of all patientswith traumatic brain injury experience long term disability⁵⁶ and that most injury occurs in young adults, the medical,social, and financial burden is clear.

The Cochrane Injuries Group maintains a specialised registerof randomised controlled trials of interventions for traumaticbrain injury and has searched extensively for trials evaluatingthe effects of mannitol, hyperventilation, cerebrospinal fluiddrainage, and barbiturates. The group has also prepared, andregularly updates, systematic reviews to assess the . . . [Full text of this article]

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