Traumatic Brain Injury: Does Admission Service Matter?

Background Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is common, and significant institutional variation exists with regards to structure and processes of care. Affected patients may be admitted to one of several different services, and this may drive differential care and outcomes. We sought to evaluate differential care and outcomes for patients with isolated mild-to-moderate traumatic brain injury based on admission service. Materials and methods This is a single-institution retrospective study of all adult (≥18 y old) patients admitted with isolated TBI (AIS ≤1 in all other body regions) over a 3-year period (6/2015-6/2018). Patients who underwent neurosurgical intervention (craniectomy/craniotomy) and those with a head AIS ≥4 were excluded. Patients were assigned to one of three groups based upon admission service: Trauma Surgery, Neurology/Medicine or Neurosurgery. Outcomes evaluated included in-hospital mortality and markers of differential care. We performed multivariate analyses adjusting for patient demographics and clinical characteristics. Results A total of 401 isolated mild-to-moderate TBI patients were identified. Overall mortality was 1.7%. Adjusted multivariate logistic regression analysis demonstrated no difference in mortality. Patients admitted to Neurosurgery underwent more repeat head CTs and were more likely to receive antiseizure medication in the absence of seizure activity, and those admitted to Neurology/Medicine were less likely to receive venous thromboembolism chemoprophylaxis compared to those admitted to Trauma Surgery. Conclusions We identify several important metrics of variation in care received by patients with an isolated mild-to-moderate TBI based upon admission service. These findings deserve further study, and this study may lay the foundation for future efforts at protocolizing care in an evidence-based fashion for this patient cohort.