SPECTRUM AND SEVERTY OF TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY AT NORTHWEST GENERAL HOSPITAL & RESEARCH CENTRE, PESHAWAR.
ABSTRACT INTRODUCTION Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is an important cause of death and disability in young adults and may lead to physical disabilities and long-term cognitive, behavioral psychological and social defects. Severe TBI is a major and challenging problem in critical care medicine. In general, TBI is divided into two discrete periods’ primary and secondary brain injury. OBJECTIVE To determine the incidence of traumatic brain injury at Northwest General Hospital & Research centre, Peshawar. To evaluate  the different modes of trauma, clinical presentations and the management of such injuries in our set up. MATERIALS & METHOD This was a Cross Sectional analysis of data collected over three years. Retrospective data collected from 07/03/2012 to 31/03/2015.All the consecutive cases of head injury who were admitted under neurosurgical care (either through A&E or OPD) were included in the study. RESULTS Total of 386 patients received neurosurgical treatment during this period, out of which 168 patients underwent some sort of surgery and 218 were managed conservatively. Of the 386 patients, 305 were male and 81 were female, giving a ratio of 4.7: 1. The highest incidence was in patients with an age range between 21 to 30 years. 217 patients presented with history of head trauma due to road traffic accidents, making it more than half (56%) of our study population CONCLUSION There was a diverse presentation of Neurotrauma at NWGH. The primary outcome of the patients i.e. condition at the time of discharge was mostly dependent on duration since trauma and condition on arrival. KEY WORDS: Traumatic Brain injury, Glasgow Coma Scale, Glasgow outcome scale