Rehabilitation of Executive Function in Pediatric Traumatic Brain Injury (REPeaT):Outcomes of a Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial

Objective: luate the effectiveness of Cogmed Working Memory Training (Cogmed) in improving working memory (WM) and decision making (DM) in childhood traumatic brain injury (TBI), and any associated increases in functional outcomes such as academic achievement in mathematics, behavior, social skills, and quality of life. Method: A randomized controlled trial of the Cogmed (RM version) intervention for children with TBI. A total of 69 children post-TBI were screened for WM impairments, of which 31 eligible participants (Mage: 10.6 years; male n = 21) were recruited and randomized to either the treatment group (Cogmed, n = 16) or the active-control group (Lexia Reading Core5, n = 15). Both groups completed computerized training for 5 weeks with clinician support via an online video platform. Immediately posttraining and at 6 months follow-up, primary (WM and DM) and secondary functional outcomes were assessed. Results: Immediately postintervention, significant improvement was found in one primary outcome (WM verbal component) for the Cogmed group, but this was not maintained at the 6 months follow-up. No immediate improvements or maintenance gains (small effect sizes) in other primary outcomes of visuospatial WM or DM were reported in the Cogmed group. No other significant group differences were detected for other functional outcomes. Conclusions: Despite the limited benefits observed in this small randomized controlled trial, it will be beneficial to investigate Cogmed’s efficacy in a case-series methodology, to further determine its effectiveness in a pediatric TBI population. Furthermore, a cautious approach in clinical implementation of Cogmed is advised.</p

Status Epilepticus Australasian Registry for Children: A pilot prospective, observational, cohort study of paediatric status epilepticus

Objective: Paediatric status epilepticus (SE) has potential for long-term sequelae. Existing data demonstrate delays to aspects of care. The objective of the present study was to examine the feasibility of collecting data on children with paediatric SE and describe current management strategies in pre-hospital and in-hospital settings. Methods: A pilot, prospective, observational cohort study of children 4 weeks to 16 years of age with SE, in four EDs in Australia. Clinical details including medications administered, duration of seizure and short-term outcomes were collected. Follow up occurred by telephone at 1 month. Results: We enrolled 167 children with SE. Mean age was 5.4 years (standard deviation [SD] 4.1), and 81 (49%) male. Median seizure duration was 10 min (interquartile range 7–30). Midazolam was the first medication administered in 87/100 (87%) instances, mean dose of 0.21 mg/kg (SD 0.13). The dose of midazolam was adequate in 30 (35%), high (>0.2 mg/kg) in 44 (51%) and low (<0.1 mg/kg) in 13 (15%). For second-line agents, levetiracetam was administered on 33/55 (60%) occasions, whereas phenytoin and phenobarbitone were administered on 11/55 (20%) occasions each. Mean dose of levetiracetam was 26.4 mg/kg (SD 13.5). One hundred and four (62%) patients were admitted to hospital, with 13 (8%) admitted to ICU and seven (4%) intubated. Conclusion: In children presenting with SE in Australia medical management differed from previous reports, with midazolam as the preferred benzodiazepine, and levetiracetam replacing phenytoin as the preferred second-line agent. This pilot study indicates the feasibility of a paediatric SE registry and its utility to understand and optimise practice

Delayed presentations to emergency departments of children with head injury: A PREDICT study

© 2018 American College of Emergency Physicians Study objective: Existing clinical decision rules guide management for head-injured children presenting 24 hours or sooner after injury, even though some may present greater than 24 hours afterward. We seek to determine the prevalence of traumatic brain injuries for patients presenting to emergency departments greater than 24 hours after injury and identify symptoms and signs to guide management. Methods: This was a planned secondary analysis of the Australasian Paediatric Head Injury Rule Study, concentrating on first presentations greater than 24 hours after injury, with Glasgow Coma Scale scores 14 and 15. We sought associations with predictors of traumatic brain injury on computed tomography (CT) and clinically important traumatic brain injury. Results: Of 19,765 eligible children, 981 (5.0%) presented greater than 24 hours after injury, and 465 injuries (48.5%) resulted from falls less than 1 m and 37 (3.8%) involved traffic incidents. Features associated significantly with presenting greater than 24 hours after injury in comparison with presenting within 24 hours were nonfrontal scalp hematoma (20.8% versus 18.1%), headache (31.6% versus 19.9%), vomiting (30.0% versus 16.3%), and assault with nonaccidental injury concerns (1.4% versus 0.4%). Traumatic brain injury on CT occurred in 37 patients (3.8%), including suspicion of depressed skull fracture (8 [0.8%]) and intracranial hemorrhage (31 [3.8%]). Clinically important traumatic brain injury occurred in 8 patients (0.8%), with 2 (0.2%) requiring neurosurgery, with no deaths. Suspicion of depressed skull fracture was associated with traumatic brain injury on CT consistently, with the only other significant factor being nonfrontal scalp hematoma (odds ratio 19.0; 95% confidence interval 8.2 to 43.9). Clinically important traumatic brain injury was also associated with nonfrontal scalp hematoma (odds ratio 11.7; 95% confidence interval 2.4 to 58.6) and suspicion of depressed fracture (odds ratio 19.7; 95% confidence interval 2.1 to 182.1). Conclusion: Delayed presentation after head injury, although infrequent, is significantly associated with traumatic brain injury. Evaluation of delayed presentations must consider identified factors associated with this increased risk

Vomiting with head trauma and risk of traumatic brain injury

© 2018 by the American Academy of Pediatrics. OBJECTIVES: To determine the prevalence of traumatic brain injuries in children who vomit after head injury and identify variables from published clinical decision rules (CDRs) that predict increased risk. METHODS: Secondary analysis of the Australasian Paediatric Head Injury Rule Study. Vomiting characteristics were assessed and correlated with CDR predictors and the presence of clinically important traumatic brain injury (ciTBI) or traumatic brain injury on computed tomography (TBI-CT). Isolated vomiting was defined as vomiting without other CDR predictors. RESULTS: Of the 19 920 children enrolled, 3389 (17.0%) had any vomiting, with 2446 (72.2%) >2 years of age. In 172 patients with ciTBI, 76 had vomiting (44.2%; 95% confidence interval [CI] 36.9%-51.7%), and in 285 with TBI-CT, 123 had vomiting (43.2%; 95% CI 37.5%-49.0%). With isolated vomiting, only 1 (0.3%; 95% CI 0.0%-0.9%) had ciTBI and 2 (0.6%; 95% CI 0.0%-1.4%) had TBI-CT. Predictors of increased risk of ciTBI with vomiting by using multivariate regression were as follows: Signs of skull fracture (odds ratio [OR] 80.1; 95% CI 43.4-148.0), altered mental status (OR 2.4; 95% CI 1.0-5.5), headache (OR 2.3; 95% CI 1.3-4.1), and acting abnormally (OR 1.86; 95% CI 1.0-3.4). Additional features predicting TBI-CT were as follows: Skull fracture (OR 112.96; 95% CI 66.76-191.14), nonaccidental injury concern (OR 6.75; 95% CI 1.54-29.69), headache (OR 2.55; 95% CI 1.52-4.27), and acting abnormally (OR 1.83; 95% CI 1.10-3.06). CONCLUSIONS: TBI-CT and ciTBI are uncommon in children presenting with head injury with isolated vomiting, and a management strategy of observation without immediate computed tomography appears appropriate

A cost-effectiveness analysis comparing clinical decision rules PECARN, CATCH, and CHALICE with usual care for the management of pediatric head injury

© 2018 American College of Emergency Physicians Study objective: To determine the cost-effectiveness of 3 clinical decision rules in comparison to Australian and New Zealand usual care: the Children's Head Injury Algorithm for the Prediction of Important Clinical Events (CHALICE), the Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network (PECARN), and the Canadian Assessment of Tomography for Childhood Head Injury (CATCH). Methods: A decision analytic model was constructed from the Australian health care system perspective to compare costs and outcomes of the 3 clinical decision rules compared with Australian and New Zealand usual care. The study involved multicenter recruitment from 10 Australian and New Zealand hospitals; recruitment was based on the Australian Pediatric Head Injury Rules Study involving 18,913 children younger than 18 years and with a head injury, and with Glasgow Coma Scale score 13 to 15 on presentation to emergency departments (EDs). We determined the cost-effectiveness of the 3 clinical decision rules compared with usual care. Results: Usual care, CHALICE, PECARN, and CATCH strategies cost on average AUD $6,390,$6,423, $6,433, and$6,457 per patient, respectively. Usual care was more effective and less costly than all other strategies and is therefore the dominant strategy. Probabilistic sensitivity analyses showed that when simulated 1,000 times, usual care dominated all clinical decision rules in 61%, 62%, and 60% of simulations (CHALICE, PECARN, and CATCH, respectively). The difference in cost between all rules was less than $36 (95$7 to $77) and the difference in quality-adjusted life-years was less than 0.00097 (95% confidence interval 0.0015 to 0.00044). Results remained robust under sensitivity analyses. Conclusion: This evaluation demonstrated that the 3 published international pediatric head injury clinical decision rules were not more cost-effective than usual care in Australian and New Zealand tertiary EDs. Understanding the usual care context and the likely cost-effectiveness is useful before investing in implementation of clinical decision rules or incorporation into a guideline