ABSTRACT
TBI is the single largest cause of death and disability in children. There are a total of 200 000 head injuries in children each year in the United States (Gedeit, 2001). Ten percent of children hospitalized with TBI have a severe head injury, defined by a GCS less than 9 upon presentation. Head injuries account for 44 percent of the mortality of children who die from severe traumatic injuries (Kraus, 1991). Care of children with brain injury at pediatric trauma centers or adult trauma centers with pediatric qualifications has significantly decreased the mortality associated with severe injury (Potoka et al., 2000). However, despite such specialized care, mortality for children with severe head injury remains high (36.5 percent) (Johnson and Krishnamurthy, 1998). Even more impressive is the statistic that for every child that dies, another 40 live with the sequelae of TBI.
