Acquired brain injury
Brain injury in childhood has many different causes. If the damage occurs after birth, it is known as an acquired brain injury (ABI).
Acquired brain injuries involve an injury to the brain. They can be caused by infections around the brain, strokes or events causing a lack of oxygen to the brain.
ABI also includes traumatic brain injuries (TBI) and concussions that happen after a head knock from falls, traffic accidents, or sporting injuries.
Brain injury can affect a child’s senses, movement, eating and swallowing. It can also impact concentration, attention, memory, speech, language, behaviour and emotions.
Some children will have temporary symptoms while others are permanent. Symptoms can range from mild to severe, depending on the severity of the injury.
Each child's recovery is unique. Learning to live with an ABI can be a long and difficult process, which is why ongoing research aims to improve the lives of children who have sustained an ABI.
Who does it affect?
Who does it affect?
- TBI occurs very frequently with around 600 to 1600 TBI a year for every 100,000 children.
- Almost one in every 100 children in Australia is treated in emergency departments every year for traumatic brain injury.
- Traumatic brain injury is the leading cause of acquired disability and death for children in high-income countries such as Australia.
- Stroke occurs at high rates in young children.
- More than 3,000 children attend The Royal Children’s Hospital with TBI every year – some need a CT scan to rule out serious injury.
Our acquired brain injury research
Our acquired brain injury research
Our group, including researchers, service providers and educators, aims to share knowledge about interventions and outcomes for children with ABI.
Studies on ABI are investigating areas including mental health, parent and child-based interventions, social function and long-term outcomes.
We are trialling programs to reduce anxiety, thinking and reasoning difficulties and manage behaviour.
Up to one in five children with ABI develop attention deficits. To help with this, a program that helps to improve attention, memory and everyday functioning is being trialled online. We are also investigating whether a game-based program can strengthen attention and if computer activities can improve memory and decision-making.
Focusing on mild TBI and concussion, long-term difficulties can include fatigue, poor concentration, headache and irritability. We found one-third of children with mild concussions develop a mental health condition, including depression, anxiety or post-traumatic stress. Therefore, we are pushing for mental health to be part of paediatric concussion assessment and management. Another study aims to enhance the understanding of mental health outcomes after mild TBI.
Concussion accounts for most mild traumatic brain injuries. Our research on childhood stroke and concussion aims to improve the management of child concussion, detect those at risk for delayed recovery and develop treatments. We are investigating a physiotherapy/psychology-based concussion intervention.
Impacts of our research
Impacts of our research
- We collaborated with Canadian researchers to find that blood samples can help gauge the severity of a TBI. The study found a protein can identify which children will recover well and who has the highest risk of ongoing problems requiring treatment, rehabilitation and support. Ongoing research is searching for other indicators.
- Our clinical practices guideline for managing communication and swallowing disorders after moderate-to-severe TBI ensures children receive the best care.
- We created Australia and New Zealand’s first set of clinical guidelines for children’s head injuries, which helps to ensure consistent care is provided in different emergency departments and helps identify TBI in children with seemingly mild injuries.
- An assessment and rehabilitation platform for children with movement disorders and ABI that we co-developed helps healthcare professionals conduct more efficient and accurate assessments, including remotely, to inform the best rehabilitation.
- Our long-term studies with TBI are continued through projects that focus on social and behavioural difficulties, plus family and child-based interventions, to improve quality of life and function.
- We developed Australia’s first clinical guidelines to improve the diagnosis and acute management of children who have a stroke. These aim to minimise brain injury and improve recovery.
Our vision
Our vision
Our vision is better diagnosis, management and treatment of brain injury, enabling improved recovery and fewer impacts on the brains and lives of affected children.
Where to next?
Where to next?
Current research is focused on interventions, to improve mental health outcomes and quality of life after ABI. We are working with families with lived experience to help improve our models of care.
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