ACS Releases Revised Best Practice Guidelines in Management of Traumatic Brain Injury

The ACS has released revised best practice guidelines for managing patients with one of the most complex and devastating conditions surgeons treat—traumatic brain injury (TBI). Globally, it is estimated that 50-60 million people experience TBI each year, costing the global economy the equivalent of $400 billion (USD).

The free resource, Best Practices Guidelines on the Management of Traumatic Brain Injury, is a comprehensive yet practical guide that was a collaboration between members of the ACS Committee on Trauma and specialists representing neurosurgery, emergency medicine, pediatrics, rehabilitation medicine, anesthesiology, radiology, pharmacology, and nurse partners from the US, Belgium, Canada, Colombia, Israel, Italy, Japan, and the United Kingdom.

These guidelines include new evidence and novel insights, including on:

• Advanced neuromonitoring: New recommendations for the use of advanced tools to improve monitoring of intracranial pressure and cerebral oxygenation
• Biomarkers in TBI diagnosis: The inclusion of emerging blood-based biomarkers to help identify the severity of brain injury and guide imaging decisions
• Tiered intracranial pressure (ICP) management: Recommendations to prevent secondary brain injury, with specific interventions based on the severity of the condition
• Comprehensive rehabilitation: Recommendations for early multidisciplinary rehabilitation, including physical, cognitive, and psychological therapies
• Seizure prophylaxis medication: New evidence supporting the use of prophylactic antiseizure medication for high-risk TBI patients to prevent early post-traumatic seizures

See all ACS Trauma Best Practice Guidelines.