Patterns and Impact of Traumatic Brain Injury at King Abdulaziz Medical City in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

Fareeda S Alghamdi,Dania M Alsabbali,Ahmed Lary,Sarah M Albugami,Yasmin H Qadi

doi:10.7759/cureus.20246

Abstract

ObjectivesThe objectives of this study are to explore the most common causes, patterns, and severities of head traumas, to evaluate the outcomes of traumatic head injury (TBI) patients followed in the clinic, and to calculate the prevalence of admitted cases.MethodsIn our retrospective cohort study, we included all the cases of adults above 18 years old diagnosed with head traumas (171 patients). The inclusion criteria were patients who presented to the emergency department at National Guard Health Affairs (NGHA), Jeddah, Saudi Arabia from 2016 to 2020. Patients were categorized according to their Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score upon admission.ResultsOf the 171 patients in this study, 151 (88.3%) were males and 20 (11.7%) were females. The median age of our patients was 31 years. Most of the cases had no medical illnesses 124 (72.5%). The most common mechanism of injury was motor vehicle accidents (MVAs) in the majority of our cases (105, 61.4%), followed by falls from heights (34, 19.9%). The commonest computed tomography (CT) finding was subdural hematoma (47, 27.4%). The majority of the associated injuries were thoracic cases (43, 25.1%), followed by spinal (40, 23.4%). Most of the patients were admitted to NGHA (120, 70.2%), while the rest (51, 29.8%) were transferred from other hospitals. Of the total of 171 patients, 134 (78.4%) were treated conservatively. There were no associations between mortality nor length of stay and patients’ demographics, except for GCS on admission showed a significant p-value (<0.005).ConclusionIn this study, it was found that the most common causes of TBI are MVAs followed by falls from heights. Therefore, preventive measures such as traffic safety rules need to be addressed.

Highlights

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is any interference with the normal function of the brain that can be caused by any force to the head the latter of which has been shown by Al-Habib et al to result from mainly motor vehicle accidents (MVAs) and pedestrian injuries [1,2]
It was found that the most common causes of TBI are MVAs followed by falls from heights
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is any interference with the normal function of the brain that can be caused by any force to the head the latter of which has been shown by Al-Habib et al to result from mainly MVAs and pedestrian injuries [1,2]

Summary

Introduction

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is any interference with the normal function of the brain that can be caused by any force to the head the latter of which has been shown by Al-Habib et al to result from mainly MVAs and pedestrian injuries [1,2]. The types of TBI can be divided into two major categories which are primary and secondary injuries based on the timing of the insult. Primary injuries include those sustained at the time of the traumatic event. Secondary brain injuries include cerebral edema, alterations in cerebral blood flow, and intracranial hypertension [6]. Another way of categorizing TBI is by the level of severity using the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score. The GCS score has been the most widely used clinical measure of the severity of injury in patients with TBI since 1974, and it is one of the parameters that will be assessed in this research [7]

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