Effects of Traumatic Brain Injury in Children Linger Years Later
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iStockphoto/Thinkstock(MELBOURNE, Australia) — Traumatic brain injuries in children are more common that you might know. Now, the latest research, published Monday in the journal Pediatrics, finds that, in some cases, it can last a lifetime.
Traumatic brain injury — or TBI — is one of the leading causes of disability and death among infants and children, Medscape reports. It accounts for almost half a million visits to the emergency room each year by children 14 and younger, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Researchers at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute in Melbourne, Australia, followed 40 children between the ages of 2 and 7, each of whom had suffered a severe brain injury.
Researchers found they had “persistent intellectual deficits” even 10 years later.
Compared with a control group, the mean average IQ scores of the severely injured children were 10 to 26 points lower. That conflicts with many conventional medical opinions that young brains can overcome even serious damage.
These findings suggest that children with a severe brain injury may remain at a permanent intellectual disadvantage.
Some good news, though: that gap does not widen over time — and children with milder injuries recovered completely.
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio