Reme Revista Mineira de Enfermagem · 2013 · 11 citations · 0 references
MedicineEmergency MedicineInjury SurveillanceOlder Adult Injury PreventionTrauma-related DisordersInjury EpidemiologyTraumatic Brain InjuryClinic AttendanceDescriptive Case StudySeverity AnalysisTraumatic Brain Injury EpidemiologyTraumatic Brain Injury Severity Assessment
This present study aimed to understand the causes and profile of Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) victims attended to at an emergency healthcare clinic in the city of Pelotas, in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. This is a quantitative, retrospective, and descriptive study in which the data were collected from Patients Charts (PC) of TBI victims who were treated in 2008. A total of496 TBI PCs were analyzed, the majority of which were male, with an average of 0 to 15 years of age, who lived in urban areas of Pelotas. As regards severity, light TBI was most commonly observed, although for 56.3% of the TBI victims, this information was not present in their PCs. From the total population whose PC presented an ignored TBI, 36% were between 0 and 15 years of age, while 28% were between 16 and 30. The predominant etiologies, when comparing all age ranges, were falls, at 47%, followed by aggressions. The age most affected by TBI was 1-year-olds. It could be observed that TBI most commonly affects children, a fact that can be explained by infantile behavior and growth, as well as by inadequate supervision. Considering the data from this research, the elaboration of a healthcare protocol for these victims, the creation of prevention programs, and further studies on this issue are warranted.