PALISI Approved Survey: Sedation Practices in the Care of Severe Pediatric Traumatic Brain Injury

Dear colleagues,

You are being asked to take part in a research study. The purpose of the study is to investigate the practices regarding long-term sedation and pain management of mechanically ventilated children following moderate-severe traumatic brain injury in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU). Currently, per the most recent guidelines on the management of pediatric traumatic brain injury (TBI) patients, there is no recommendation on analgesia and sedation for the management of increased intracranial pressure in patients with TBI and routine PICU care ¹. 

The goal of our study is to collect information to inform subsequent investigation of analgesia and sedation in pre-clinical studies and to provide information on the most commonly used sedatives for the safety and optimal management of pediatric patients following TBI in clinical research and in practice.

We invite clinicians who routinely care for patients with moderate-severe TBI patients and who prescribe or give recommendations on analgesia and sedative regimens to participate. This survey should take approximately 5-10 minutes to complete. There is no direct benefit to you from being in this study.  Participation is voluntary and anonymous.  Should you choose to participate, selecting the link below will entail your consent.  This survey was reviewed and given exempt status by the IRB at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. If you have any questions about this study, please feel free to contact the Principal Investigator, Courtney Robertson, at crober48@jhmi.edu.

The IRB can help you if you have questions about your rights as a research participant or if you have other questions, concerns or complaints about this research study.  You may contact the IRB at 410-502-2092 or jhmeirb@jhmi.edu.

Link to Survey

Thank you for your time and participation. 

Alexis Thompson, MD

Clinical Instructor of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine

Courtney Robertson, MD

Associate Professor of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine

Johns Hopkins University SOM

Baltimore, MD

References:

Kochanek PM, Tasker RC, Carney N, Totten AM, Adelson PD, Selden NR, Davis-O'Reilly C, Hart EL, Bell MJ, Bratton SL, Grant GA, Kissoon N, Reuter-Rice KE, Vavilala MS, Wainwright MS. Guidelines for the Management of Pediatric Severe Traumatic Brain Injury, Third Edition: Update of the Brain Trauma Foundation Guidelines, Executive Summary. Neurosurgery. 2019 Jun 1;84(6):1169-1178. doi: 10.1093/neuros/nyz051. PMID: 30822776.