Long-term outcome of pediatric head injuries – A five-year follow-up

Abstract

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) disrupts the developing brain in the pediatric population. This study aims to look at the outcomes of moderate and severe TBI over a five-year follow-up to look for the long-term sequelae of head injury in the pediatric population. A prospective observational study was conducted after obtaining the permission of the Institutional Ethics Committee with the primary study participants admitted between 2015 and 2017 with follow-up extending up to 2022 in 118 pediatric patients, aged between 1 and 15 years who required admission in the pediatric intensive care unit with moderate and severe TBI. Language impairment was noted in 33.63% (n = 37) patients during early follow-up, and 12 of them continued to have impaired language skills and communication at the end of five years. With regard to school functioning, children had more difficulty in the arithmetic domain (n = 33) compared to language domains (n = 17). While the parents noted improvements in scholastic performances, some degree of difficulty in learning was noted in most of the children, who sustained TBI. Despite these difficulties, 27 out of 41 participants, who gave their higher secondary examinations have gone on to pursue undergraduate courses in colleges. Our study indicates that over the passage of time, children tend to have a reasonable chance at recovery, and with the potential for plasticity, early and aggressive rehabilitative services may enable the child to have a decent quality of life and in selected cases, even an independent life.