ABSTRACT
Head injury is a leading cause of death and acquired disability in the pediatric population. Despite this, data from well-designed clinical studies, which could be used to guide the management of children with severe traumatic brain injury, are scarce. Most of the randomized controlled trials designed to evaluate head injury have excluded pediatric patients. Because of the paucity of proven therapies in pediatric head injury, management strategies for severely head-injured children are generally extrapolated from adult studies. Because pediatric patients are not simply small adults, therapy should be based on scientific evidence that a particular type of treatment will actually improve a child’s outcome from traumatic brain injury.
