Challenges in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

Although the vast majority of traumatic brain injury (TBI) research has been done in high-income countries (HICs), the burden of TBI is much higher in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). This is a problem, because there is no evidence to guide us about how to treat patients when the resources for emergency care, imaging and neurosurgical treatment are scarce or unavailable. In addition, both the lack of medical know-how and long distances to hospitals affect patient outcomes negatively. Thus, at every step in trauma management, from prehospital care to rehabilitation, resources are gravely failing or totally absent in many LMICs.