The First 24 Hours after Severe Head Trauma

Severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) is defined by a Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score of 8 or less during the first post-trauma day. It is recognized as a devastating pathology in terms of mortality and morbidity. Long-term recovery is poor with only 10 to 20 % patients returning to work after 1 year [1, 2]. If all severe TBI patients are taken into account (including those deceased before arrival at hospital), one-year mortality ranges between 35 to 45 % [3–6]. Mortality is dramatic in the first days with more than 40 % of all deaths occurring within the first 24 hours [1, 6].