Prospective Paediatric Cohort Study of Biomarkers in the Early Management of Mild Traumatic Brain Injury and Prediction of Persistent Post-concussion Symptoms

Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (mTBI) in children is a very frequent reason for presentation at the paediatric emergency department. In most cases, the trauma will not lead to intracranial lesions. The first objective for clinicians is therefore to detect all children in need of neurosurgical intervention after mTBI. Although computerized tomography (CT) is currently the modality of choice for acute intracranial haemorrhage identification, care should be taken to avoid unnecessary exposure to ionizing radiation in the developing brain. Monitoring the occurrence of bleeding usually involves an observation period which generally extends from six to twenty-four hours. This time is stressful for the child and parents as well as time and cost consuming for the hospital. In addition to the acute conditions, it has been described that post-concussion symptoms can occur in the weeks or months following the trauma, and neuropsychological follow-up of these children could help prevent or reduce the symptoms. The aim of our study is to find biomarkers that can identify children with clinically important intracranial injury and/or children that will eventually suffer from a post-concussion syndrome.