Epidemiology, clinical characteristics and outcomes of traumatic brain injury: Evidences from integrated level 1 trauma center in India

INTRODUCTION: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a leading cause of mortality, morbidity, disability, and socioeconomic losses in the Indian subcontinent. However, for policymaking and research, there is a lack of reliable and larger data in our settings. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To evaluate and describe the epidemiological, clinical characteristics, and outcomes of patients with TBI in a Level 1 Trauma Center in India. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this retrospective study, all patients with moderate or severe TBI, based on emergency department Glasgow Coma Scale, admitted to neurosurgery Intensive Care Unit (ICU) during May 2010–July 2012 were evaluated to provide detailed information on TBI-related variables and outcomes using descriptive statistics. RESULTS: Among the 1527 patients with moderate or severe TBI patients with mean age 32.15 ± 16.76 years (range: 1–90) and male:female ratio 6.5:1, 1281 (83.89%) had severe TBI. The majority of cases took place in the age group of 21–40 years (50.24%) with the most common mode of injury as road traffic accidents (RTAs) (64.96%). Surgical intervention (craniotomy) was done in 49.12% of patients. About 34.58% (n = 528) patients died in hospital, and 67.21% (n = 701) had unfavorable outcome at 6 months. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study of its kind from the Indian subcontinent that gives data on the admission characteristics, mortality, and 6 months outcome of such patients. Most of the injuries occurred due to RTAs, more common among the economic productive age groups and mostly in males with a high rate of mortality and unfavorable outcome.