Controversies of prophylactic hypothermia and the emerging use of brain tissue oxygen tension monitoring and decompressive craniectomy in traumatic brain-injured children

SummaryBackgroundDespite being the leading cause of death and disability in the paediatric population, traumatic brain injury (TBI) in this group is largely understudied. Clinical practice within the paediatric intensive care unit (PICU) has been based upon adult guidelines however children are significantly different in terms of mechanism, pathophysiology and consequence of injury.AimTo review TBI management in the PICU and gain insight into potential management strategies.MethodTo conduct this review, a literature search was conducted using MEDLINE, PUBMED and The Cochrane Library using the following key words; traumatic brain injury; paediatric; hypothermia. There were no date restrictions applied to ensure that past studies, whose principles remain current were not excluded.ResultsThree areas were identified from the literature search and will be discussed against current acknowledged treatment strategies: Prophylactic hypothermia, brain tissue oxygen tension monitoring and decompressive craniectomy.ConclusionPrevious literature has failed to fully address paediatric specific management protocols and we therefore have little evidence-based guidance. This review has shown that there is an emerging and ongoing trend towards paediatric specific TBI research in particular the area of moderate prophylactic hypothermia (MPH).