Evidenced-based guidelines for traumatic brain injuries.

An enormous amount of clinical and basic science brain injury research has been undertaken during the last several decades in an effort to improve outcomes following severe traumatic brain injury, but to date there still are no new therapies that have been clearly shown to be beneficial. There is, however, increasing evidence to suggest that evidence-based, protocol-driven, acute care can lead to improved outcomes. Evidence based guidelines for the medical and surgical management of severe brain injury, and for penetrating and pediatric brain injury, as well as for the pre-hospital management of brain injury, have all been published. In this chapter the conclusions of those guidelines is reviewed. In addition, the studies that demonstrate improved outcomes as a result of implementation of the guidelines are summarized.