One-Year Outcomes After Traumatic Brain Injury and Early Extracranial Surgery in the TRACK-TBI Study

Are traumatic brain injury (TBI) outcomes at 1 year worse in individuals exposed to extracranial surgery early after trauma compared with people unexposed?In this multicenter cohort study of 1150 participants that had follow-up at 1 year, participants undergoing extracranial surgery early after TBI and those with acute intracranial findings on computed tomography had worse functional, cognitive, and disability outcomes compared with general orthopedic trauma patients or those with TBI with imaging negative for acute intracranial findings.The results suggest that for patients with TBI-induced radiographic abnormalities, early extracranial surgery may generate additional neurotoxic mediators that act as secondary insults to an already injured brain.

Corresponding Author: Christopher J. Roberts, MD, PhD, Department of Anesthesiology, Zablocki Veterans Affairs Medical Center, 8701 Watertown Plank Rd, Milwaukee, WI 53226 (croberts@mcw.edu).

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