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Introduction: Environmental hypothermia increases mortality in patients with major trauma, however the impact of exposure hypothermia on outcomes in isolated traumatic brain injury (TBI) is under-explored in literature. The aim of this study is to determine the relationship between environmental hypothermia and survival in patients with isolated blunt TBI., Methods: We analyzed data from the Trauma Quality Improvement Program database. We included patients who were ≥15 years of age, had an abbreviated injury scale (AIS) ≥1 for the head/neck body region, an arrival Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) of <14, an AIS of 0 for all other body regions, and a blunt mechanism. We defined hypothermia as <35 degrees Celsius., Results: From 2020 to 2022, there were 16,697 patient encounters that met inclusion for this analysis. There were 670 (4%) patient encounters that met our definition of hypothermia. Hypothermic patients had lower unadjusted survival at 24 hours (79% versus 92%) and throughout their hospital stay (47% versus 77%, all p<0.001). In our multivariable logistic regression model, after adjusting for age, sex, arrival GCS, arrival shock index, mechanism of injury, and imaging findings, hypothermia was associated with lower survival at 24 hours (OR 0.59, 0.48-0.74) and lower total in-hospital survival (OR 0.44, 0.36-0.53)., Conclusions: Environmental hypothermia is associated with increased mortality at 24 hours and at hospital discharge in patients with isolated blunt TBI. Further investigation is needed to identify optimal treatment strategies for TBI patients with hypothermia and to determine whether hypothermia prevention decreases mortality., (Copyright © 2025. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Background: The U.S. military requires medical readiness to support forward-deployed combat operations. Because time and distance to neurosurgical capabilities vary within the deployed trauma system, nonneurosurgeons are required to perform emergent cranial procedures in select cases. It is unclear whether these surgeons have sufficient training in these procedures., Methods: This quality-improvement study involved a voluntary, anonymized specialty-specific survey of active-duty surgeons about their experience and attitudes toward U.S. military emergency neurosurgical training., Results: Survey responses were received from 104 general surgeons and 26 neurosurgeons. Among general surgeons, 81% have deployed and 53% received training in emergency neurosurgical procedures before deployment. Only 16% of general surgeons reported participating in craniotomy/craniectomy procedures in the last year. Nine general surgeons reported performing an emergency neurosurgical procedure while on deployment/humanitarian mission, and 87% of respondents expressed interest in further predeployment emergency neurosurgery training. Among neurosurgeons, 81% had participated in training nonneurosurgeons and 73% believe that more comprehensive training for nonneurosurgeons before deployment is needed. General surgeons proposed lower procedure minimums for competency for external ventricular drain placement and craniotomy/craniectomy than did neurosurgeons. Only 37% of general surgeons had used mixed/augmented reality in any capacity previously; for combat procedures, most (90%) would prefer using synchronous supervision via high-fidelity video teleconferencing over mixed reality., Conclusions: These survey results show a gap in readiness for neurosurgical procedures for forward-deployed general surgeons. Capitalizing on capabilities such as mixed/augmented reality would be a force multiplier and a potential means of improving neurosurgical capabilities in the forward-deployed environments., (Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Objectives: Children represent a significant portion of the patient population treated at combat support hospitals. There is significant data regarding post injury seizures in adults but with children it is lacking. We seek to describe the incidence of post-traumatic seizures within this population., Methods: This is a secondary analysis of previously described data from the Department of Defense Trauma Registry (DODTR). Within our dataset, we searched for documentation of seizures after admission., Results: Of the 3439 encounters in our dataset, we identified 37 casualties that had a documented seizure after admission. Most were in the 1-4 year age group (37.8%), male (59.4%), injured by explosive (40.5%), with serious injuries to the head/neck (75.6%). The median ISS was higher in the seizure group (22 versus 10, p<0.001). Most survived to hospital discharge with no statistically significant increased mortality noted in the seizure group (seizure 90.2% versus 91.8%, p = 1.000). In the prehospital setting, the seizure group was more frequently intubated (16.2% versus 6.0%, p = 0.023), received ketamine (20.0% versus 3.2%, p<0.001), and administered an anti-seizure medication (5.4% versus 0.1%, p = 0.001). In the hospital setting, the seizure group was more frequently intubated (56.7% versus 17.7%, p<0.001), had intracranial pressure monitoring (24.3% versus 2.6%, p<0.001), craniectomy (10.8% versus 2.5%, p = 0.014), and craniotomy (21.6% versus 4.7%, p<0.001)., Conclusions: Within our dataset, we found an incidence of 1% of pediatric casualties experiencing a post-traumatic seizure. While this number appears infrequent, there is likely significant under detection of subclinical seizures., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest We have no conflicts to report., (Copyright © 2022. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Background and Objective: Geriatric patients (age ≥65 years) who sustain a traumatic brain injury have an increased risk of poor outcomes and higher mortality compared with younger cohorts. We aimed to evaluate the risk factors for discharge outcomes in a geriatric traumatic subdural hematoma population, stratified by age and pretraumatic medical comorbidities. This was a single-center retrospective cohort study of geriatric patients (N = 207)., Methods: Patient charts were evaluated for factors including patient characteristics, comorbidities, injury-related and seizure-related factors, neurosurgical intervention, and patient disposition on discharge., Results: Bivariate and multivariate analyses showed that age was nonpredictive of patient outcomes. Underlying vasculopathic comorbidities were the primary determinant of posttraumatic seizure, surgical, and discharge outcomes. Multifactor analysis showed that patients who went on to develop status epilepticus (n = 11) had a higher frequency of vasculopathic comorbidities with strong predictive power in poor patient outcomes., Conclusions: Our findings suggest a need to establish unique prognostic risk factors based on patient outcomes that guide medical and surgical treatment in geriatric patients., (Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Background: Children make up a significant cohort of patients treated at combat support hospitals. Where traumatic head injury, including intracranial hemorrhage (ICH), is well studied in military adults, such research is lacking regarding pediatric patients. We seek to describe the incidence and outcomes of ICH within this population., Methods: This is a secondary analysis of a previously published dataset from the Department of Defense Trauma Registry for all pediatric casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan from January 2007 to January 2016. Within our dataset, we searched for casualties with an ICH., Results: Of the 3439 pediatric encounters in our dataset, we identified 495 (14%) casualties that had at least 1 type of ICH. Most were between 5 and 12 years of age, male (74%), and injured by an explosive (42%). Of the casualties with ICHs, 82 had epidural (16.6%), 237 had subdural (47.9%), 153 had subarachnoid (30.9%), 157 had parenchymal bleeds (31.7%), and 239 had ICHs not otherwise specified (48.3%). In the hospital setting, the epidural group was more frequently treated with skull decompression (41%) and craniotomy with skull elevation (28%). The subdural group was more frequently treated with a craniectomy (17%) and the parenchymal group had more frequent intracranial pressure monitoring (18%). In our dataset, 22 received ketamine prehospital (4.4%) and most were discharged alive from the hospital (79%)., Conclusions: Within our dataset, we identified 495 cases of ICH in pediatric patients. Most survived to hospital discharge despite less than half undergoing a decompression procedure., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)