Recommendations released for outpatient care following traumatic brain injury

Editor's Note

Care can be highly variable across outpatient settings for patients receiving follow-up care for traumatic brain injury (TBI), such as for skull fracture repair and shunt placement. Inadequate follow-up care after initial injury is a key factor in the potential for poor TBI outcomes. A new clinical practice guideline published in the November/December issue of Annals of Family Medicine provides standardized outpatient care recommendations for patients recovering from TBI to help address this variability.

The new guideline outlines evidence-based recommendations for 11 high-priority care topics to guide outpatient care for adults with TBI in the first six months after injury, including assessment, education, referrals, and early treatment.

The guideline also includes considerations for older adults, survivors of intimate partner violence, athletes, and military service members.

These new evidence-based recommendations were developed through the Action Collaborative on TBI Care, an initiative under the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. This guideline complements existing guidance for prehospital and acute management of TBI.