Hospitals’ Compliance with Guidelines for Treating TBI Doesn’t Guarantee Better Outcomes

In research published in the journal JAMA Surgery, a study conducted by the Los Angeles County Trauma Consortium found that compliance with the Brain Tumor Foundation’s guidelines for treating traumatic brain injury (TBI) doesn’t necessarily translate into better results for patients. “There is no direct connection between the rate at which a hospital does what it is supposed to do for traumatic brain injury patients and how likely their patients are to die from their injuries after we adjust for other important patient characteristics,” said the study’s lead author. The researchers analyzed data from 734 adults who sustained severe traumatic brain injury and found that the percentage of patients who died from their injuries varied by medical center, but ranged from 20 percent to 50 percent. After factoring in risk-adjusted mortality rates — which take into account the patients’ age and other medical conditions — ranged from 24.3 percent to 56.7 percent. Furthermore, only 46.1 percent of patients whose injuries called for intracranial pressure monitoring (according to the guidelines) actually underwent monitor placement, and only 45.6 percent of the patients whose injuries called for craniotomy underwent the procedure. These findings have already prompted consortium members to re-evaluate how they treat brain trauma, which will hopefully lead to better care for patients. To read more about this study, click here.