[Cognitive Dysfunction in Children who Underwent Surgery after a Traumatic Brain Injury:A Single Institute Investigation].

: The cognitive function of children who underwent surgical therapy after a traumatic brain injury is poorly studied. In this study, we investigated the characteristics of 27 children who received surgical therapy at our institution. The children were between 1 and 16 years of age, of which 15 had cognitive dysfunction. Their Glasgow Coma Scale score at the acute stage of dysfunction was worse than in children who did not have cognitive dysfunction. Acute subdural hematoma was more frequent in the cognitive dysfunction group. Moreover, all children in this group showed brain injury by imaging analysis. Differences in imaging characteristics and the association with cognitive dysfunction could not be readily associated with a specific injury. Memory and verbal disorder were the most common cognitive dysfunctions:these symptoms were present among children of all ages;conversely, behavior disorder, impaired attention, and infeasibility were limited to the children under 9 years of age. Since the immature brain is developing, the acquisition of new abilities may be blocked by the injury;thus, we speculate that brain injury at a younger age causes greater cognitive dysfunction.