“Traumatic brain injury is a leading cause of disability in children, but it’s very difficult to predict long-term outcome and which kids might need more aggressive treatment,” said study author Emily L. Dennis, PhD, of the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. “While the severity of the injury certainly plays a role in this, there’s still a lot of uncertainty — you frequently have two patients with similar injuries who have different recoveries.”

The study involved 21 children ages eight to 18 who were in a pediatric intensive care unit at one of four hospitals in Los Angeles County with a moderate to severe traumatic brain injury. Causes of the injuries included falls from skateboards, scooters and bikes, motor vehicle-pedestrian accidents and motor vehicle accidents with children as passengers. The children were compared to 20 children of the same age who had not had a brain injury.

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