Brain Trauma Foundation

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The Brain Trauma Foundation (BTF) started in 1986 to study traumatic brain injury (TBI). Its mission now is to improve outcomes for TBI patients across the United States by promoting evidence-based guidelines for prehospital and in-hospital care, quality improvement programs, and education for medical professionals.

BTF created the Guidelines for the Management of Severe Traumatic Brain Injury, first published in 1995 and updated most recently in 2016. It also published Guidelines for the Management of Pediatric Severe Traumatic Brain Injury, with the third edition released in 2019. In addition, there are companion guidelines for prehospital management of TBI, early indicators and prognosis of severe TBI, surgical management of TBI, and field management for combat medics. The aim is to make TBI care more uniform around the world.

A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention analysis found that using the BTF guidelines more routinely could cut deaths by about 50%, improve quality of life, and save about $262 million each year in medical costs, $43 million in rehabilitation costs, and $3.84 billion in lifetime societal costs.

The guidelines have been endorsed by the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, the World Health Organization Neurotrauma Committee, and the New York State Department of Health, and they have been distributed to all neurosurgeons in the United States. They provide clinicians with a proven protocol to improve survival and outcomes for TBI patients. A key part of the guidelines is monitoring intracranial pressure (ICP) in treating severe TBI.