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Traumatic Brain Injury

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Nursing Care of the Pediatric Neurosurgery Patient

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Abstract

Despite prevention efforts, pediatric head trauma remains the most common cause of serious injury and death in children. Seventy-five percent of children who are hospitalized secondary to trauma, sustain head trauma. Most pediatric head trauma is mild in severity, although central nervous system (CNS) injury is the most common cause of pediatric traumatic death [22]. The overall incidence is 200–300 cases per 100,000 in the population annually. Deaths from severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) occur at an alarming rate of 7,000 annually [20]. This is especially concerning when considering that upwards of 20–40% of the injuries are preventable. The financial burden on individuals and society is immense, and is estimated at $7.5 billion annually in the United States. Many childhood survivors of severe TBI are left with varying degrees of permanent disability.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Children’s Medical Center, One Children’s Plaza, Dayton, OH, 45404, USA

    Angela Enix MS, RN, CPNP-AC & Sherry Kahn MS, RN, CPNP

  2. Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, The Children’s Medical Center, One Children’s Plaza, Dayton, OH, 45404, USA

    Jodi Mullen MS, RN, BC, CCRN, CCNS

  3. Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, The Children’s Medical Center, One Children’s Plaza, Dayton, OH, 45404, USA

    Carol Green RNC, MSN, CNS/NNP

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  1. Angela Enix MS, RN, CPNP-AC
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  2. Jodi Mullen MS, RN, BC, CCRN, CCNS
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  3. Carol Green RNC, MSN, CNS/NNP
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  4. Sherry Kahn MS, RN, CPNP
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Neurosurgery, University of Missouri Health Care, Columbia, MO, 65212, USA

    Cathy C. Cartwright RN, MSN, PCNS (Pediatric Clinical Nurse Specialist) (Pediatric Clinical Nurse Specialist)

  2. Barrow Neurological Institute, St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center, 500 West Thomas Road, Phoenix, AZ, 85013, USA

    Donna C. Wallace RN, MS, CPNP (Pediatric Nurse Practitioner) (Pediatric Nurse Practitioner)

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Enix, A., Mullen, J., Green, C., Kahn, S. (2007). Traumatic Brain Injury. In: Cartwright, C.C., Wallace, D.C. (eds) Nursing Care of the Pediatric Neurosurgery Patient. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-29704-8_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-29704-8_7

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