TBI May Be Helped By Early Nutrition Intervention

A report by the Institute of Medicine, commissioned by the U.S. Defense Department, recommends that in the first 24 hours after a traumatic brain injury (TBI), patients need to receive a level of nutrition that represents more than 50 percent of the injured person’s total energy expenditure and that provides 1 to 1.5 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight.  This nutrition level should be continued for two weeks in order to reduce inflammation and swelling of the brain and provide enough energy to help the brain repair itself.  Early feeding was found to mitigate the effects of head injuries and reduce mortality in critically ill people by between 25% and 50%.

 "The one major [conclusion] is a focus on getting protein and calories in as quickly as possible," said John Erdman, a nutrition researcher at the University of Illinois, who headed the panel of independent experts that produced the report.

 TBI among U.S. soldiers is a growing problem.  The Defense Department says reported cases have tripled to more than 30,000 in the past decade, reflecting injuries from so-called improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, that troops frequently encounter in Afghanistan and Iraq.

 Also, because of the parallels between some types of TBI found in combat personnel and those found in civilian brain injuries, such as concussions from traffic accidents and sports-related injuries, the nutritional interventions explored in this report are relevant for nonmilitary populations.

 Outside the military, some 52,000 people in the U.S. die each year from TBI, and about 1.5 million patients report to emergency rooms annually with head injuries.  As many as 3.8 million people suffer such injuries playing sports each year, says the Brain Trauma Foundation.

 The Institute of Medicine’s committee suggests that more research be conducted on a number of other possible benefits for nutritional interventions in TBI victims, including any long-term benefits of nutrition.