Functional short-term outcomes and mortality in children with severe traumatic brain injury - comparing decompressive craniectomy and medical management

Random Forest Prognostication of Survival and 6-Month Outcome in Pediatric Patients Following Decompressive Craniectomy for Traumatic Brain Injury

BACKGROUND

There is a dearth of literature regarding prognostic and predictive factors for outcome following pediatric decompressive craniectomy (DC) performed after traumatic brain injury (TBI). The aim of this study was to develop a random forest machine learning algorithm to predict outcomes following DC in pediatric patients.

METHODS

This multi-institutional retrospective study assessed the 6-month postoperative outcome in pediatric patients who underwent DC. We developed a machine learning model using classification random forest (CRF) and survival random forest (SRF) algorithms for prediction of outcomes. Data on clinical signs, radiographic studies, and laboratory studies were collected. Outcome measures for the CRF model were mortality and good or bad outcome based on Glasgow Outcome Scale at 6 months. A Glasgow Outcome Scale score of ≥4 indicated a good outcome. Outcome for the SRF model was mortality during the follow-up period.

RESULTS

The study included 40 pediatric patients. Hospital mortality rate was 27.5%, and 75.8% of survivors had a good outcome at 6-month follow up. The CRF model for 6-month mortality had a receiver operating characteristic area under the curve of 0.984, whereas, 6-month good and bad outcomes had a receiver operating characteristic area under the curve of 0.873. The SRF model was trained at the 6-month time point with a receiver operating characteristic area under the curve of 0.921.

CONCLUSIONS

CRF and SRF models successfully predicted 6-month outcomes and mortality following DC in pediatric patients with TBI. These results suggest that random forest models may be efficacious for predicting outcome in this patient population.

Decompressive craniectomy in children: indications and outcome from a tertiary centre

INTRODUCTION

The role of decompressive craniectomy (DC) is as a rescue therapy for the treatment of intracranial hypertension. The indications for the DC are variable.

METHODS

The clinical details, imaging, operative findings and follow-up data of children less than or equal to 18 years of age were reviewed for more information on the children who underwent DC in the last 5 years.

RESULTS

During the study period, a total of 128 children underwent DC. The trauma cases were 66, and the non-trauma cases were 62. The common indication for DC was pure acute subdural hematoma 33 (50%), followed by contusion 10 (15%) in the trauma group, and in non-trauma, arterial infarction in 20 (32%) and cerebral venous thrombosis in 17 (27%). Hemicraniectomy was done in 114 (89%), and bifrontal craniectomy was done in 7 (5.4%) cases. The median duration follow-up was 7 months in non-trauma and 6 months in trauma. GCS was less than 8, the motor score was less than 3, and pupillary asymmetry, hypotension and basal cistern effacement were factors related to an unfavourable outcome in the non-trauma group. In regression analysis, only a motor score of less than three was associated with the non-trauma group. Age less than 10 years, GCS less than 8, motor score less than three and preoperative infarction were the predictive factors in univariate analysis, and only GCS less than 8 was the predictive factor for unfavourable factors in regression analysis in the trauma group.

CONCLUSION

The DC is performed as a lifesaving procedure. The unfavourable outcome is slightly higher in non-trauma cases compared to trauma cases. However, the mortality rate is high in trauma cases.

Predicting and improving outcome in severe pediatric traumatic brain injury

INTRODUCTION

Severe pediatric traumatic brain injury (spTBI), including abusive head trauma (AHT) in young children, is a major public health problem. Long-term consequences of spTBI include a large variety of physical, neurological, biological, cognitive, behavioral and social deficits and impairments.

AREAS COVERED

The present narrative review summarizes studies and reviews published from January 2019 to February 2024 on spTBI. Significant papers published before 2019 were also included. The article gives coverage to the causes of spTBI, its epidemiology and fatality rates; disparities, inequalities, and socioeconomic factors; critical care; outcomes; and interventions.

EXPERT OPINION

There are disparities between countries and according to socio-economic factors regarding causes, treatments and outcomes of spTBI. AHT has an overall poor outcome. Adherence to critical care guidelines is imperfect and the evidence-base of guidelines needs further investigations. Neuroimaging and biomarker predictors of outcomes is a rapidly evolving domain. Long-term cognitive, behavioral and psychosocial difficulties are the most prevalent and disabling. Their investigation should make a clear distinction between objective (clinical examination, cognitive tests, facts) and subjective measures (estimations using patient- and proxy-reported questionnaires), considering possible common source bias in reported difficulties. Family/caregiver-focused interventions, ecological approaches, and use of technology in delivery of interventions are recommended to improve long-term difficulties after spTBI.

Current practice of intracranial pressure monitoring in children with severe traumatic brain injury-a nationwide prospective surveillance study in Germany

Background

For management of severe traumatic brain injuries (sTBI) in children, the overall level of evidence to guide diagnostic and therapeutic procedures is low. Since 2016, international guidelines have subsequently suggested invasive intracranial pressure (ICP) monitoring in patients with initial Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) ≤8. In Germany, ICP monitoring was an individual case decision from 2011 until the 2022 update of the German pediatric TBI guideline. The aim of this study was to evaluate current clinical practice of invasive ICP monitoring in Germany in children <10 years with respect to guideline recommendations.

Methods

Anonymized clinical data on sTBI cases <10 years of age were collected in a nationwide prospective surveillance study via the German Pediatric Surveillance Unit ESPED from July 2019 until June 2022. Inclusion criteria for the surveillance study were sTBI (initial GCS ≤8) or neurosurgery following TBI. For this analysis, only cases with GCS ≤8 were subject to the present analysis. Descriptive analyses were performed to assess the proportion of ICP monitored patients and describe the cohort.

Results

Out of 217 reported cases, 102 cases met the inclusion criteria and thus qualified for ICP monitoring. Of these, 37 (36%) received ICP monitoring. Monitored patients were older, had lower median GCS values at presentation (4 vs. 5), higher mortality (32% vs. 22%), and were more frequently diagnosed with cerebral edema (68% vs. 37%).

Conclusion

In children <10 years with sTBI, the present clinical management regarding ICP monitoring deviates from the current German national and international guidelines. The reasons remain unclear, with the low level of evidence in the field of ICP monitoring and the recency of changes in guideline recommendations as potential contributors. Prospective interventional studies should elucidate the benefit of ICP monitoring and ICP directed therapies to provide evidence-based recommendations on ICP monitoring.

Pediatric intensive care unit admissions network-rationale, framework and method of operation of a nationwide collaborative pediatric intensive care research network in Germany

The Pediatric Intensive Care Unit Admissions (PIA) network aims to establish a nationwide database in Germany to gather epidemiological, clinical, and outcome data on pediatric critical illness. The heterogeneity of pediatric patients in intensive care units (PICU) poses challenges in obtaining sufficient case numbers for reliable research. Multicentered approaches, such as patient registries, have proven effective in collecting large-scale data. However, Germany lacks a systematic registration system for pediatric intensive care admissions, hindering epidemiological and outcome assessments. The PIA network intends to address these gaps and provide a framework for clinical and epidemiological research in pediatric intensive care. The network will interconnect PICUs across Germany and collect structured data on diagnoses, treatment, clinical course, and short-term outcomes. It aims to identify areas for improvement in care, enable disease surveillance, and potentially serve as a quality control tool. The PIA network builds upon the existing infrastructure of the German Pediatric Surveillance Unit ESPED and utilizes digitalized data collection techniques. Participating units will complete surveys on their organizational structure and equipment. The study population includes patients aged ≥28 days admitted to participating PICUs, with a more detailed survey for cases meeting specific criteria. Data will be collected by local PIA investigators, anonymized, and entered into a central database. The data protection protocol complies with regulations and ensures patient privacy. Quarterly data checks and customized quality reports will be conducted to monitor data completeness and plausibility. The network will evaluate its performance, data collection feasibility, and data quality. Eligible investigators can submit proposals for data analyses, which will be reviewed and analyzed by trained statisticians or epidemiologists. The PIA network aims to improve pediatric intensive care medicine in Germany by providing a comprehensive understanding of critical illness, benchmarking treatment quality, and enabling disease surveillance.

Intracranial Pressure and Its Related Parameters in the Management of Severe Pediatric Traumatic Brain Injury

There are a number of challenges in the management of acute traumatic brain injuries in children. Beyond their relatively broad age range, which spans neonates to late adolescence, these children may likewise present with coexisting injuries. Thus, their management often necessitates a multidisciplinary team, who coordinate medical/surgical management during their hospitalization in the intensive care unit, as well as specialists in pediatric neurology and rehabilitation during postoperative recovery. Here we address standard of care for acute management, based upon established guidelines and focusing on intracranial pressure, cerebral perfusion pressure, and autoregulation. We also consider the controversies related to monitoring intracranial pressure and methods for sedation and treatment.

Impact of timing of decompressive craniectomy on outcomes in pediatric traumatic brain injury

Background

Decompressive craniectomy (DC) can be utilized in the management of severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). It remains unclear if timing of DC affects pediatric patient outcomes. Further, the literature is limited in the risk assessment and prevention of complications that can occur post DC.

Methods

This is a retrospective review over a 10-year period across two medical centers of patients ages 1 month-18 years who underwent DC for TBI. Patients were stratified as acute (<24 h) and subacute (>24 h) based on timing to DC. Primary outcomes were Glasgow outcome scale (GOS) at discharge and 6-month follow-up as well as complication rates.

Results

A total of 47 patients fit the inclusion criteria: 26 (55.3%) were male with a mean age of 7.87 ± 5.87 years. Overall, mortality was 31.9% (n = 15). When evaluating timing to DC, 36 (76.6%) patients were acute, and 11 (23.4%) were subacute. Acute DC patients presented with a lower Glasgow coma scale (5.02 ± 2.97) compared to subacute (8.45 ± 4.91) (P = 0.030). Timing of DC was not associated with GOS at discharge (P = 0.938), 3-month follow-up (P = 0.225), 6-month follow-up (P = 0.074), or complication rate (P = 0.505). The rate of posttraumatic hydrocephalus following DC for both groups was 6.4% (n = 3).

Conclusion

Although patients selected for the early DC had more severe injuries at presentation, there was no difference in outcomes. The optimal timing of DC requires a multifactorial approach considered on a case-by-case basis.

Administrative data in pediatric critical care research-Potential, challenges, and future directions

Heterogenous patient populations with small case numbers constitute a relevant barrier to research in pediatric critical care. Prospective studies bring along logistic barriers and-if interventional-ethical concerns. Therefore, retrospective observational investigations, mainly multicenter studies or analyses of registry data, prevail in the field of pediatric critical care research. Administrative health care data represent a possible alternative to overcome small case numbers and logistic barriers. However, their current use is limited by a lack of knowledge among clinicians about the availability and characteristics of these data sets, along with required expertise in the handling of large data sets. Specifically in the field of critical care research, difficulties to assess the severity of the acute disease and estimate organ dysfunction and outcomes pose additional challenges. In contrast, trauma research has shown that classification of injury severity from administrative data can be achieved and chronic disease scores have been developed for pediatric patients, nurturing confidence that the remaining obstacles can be overcome. Despite the undoubted challenges, interdisciplinary collaboration between clinicians and methodologic experts have resulted in impactful publications from across the world. Efforts to enable the estimation of organ dysfunction and measure outcomes after critical illness are the most urgent tasks to promote the use of administrative data in critical care. Clever analysis and linking of different administrative health care data sets carry the potential to advance observational research in pediatric critical care and ultimately improve clinical care for critically ill children.