Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Guideline on the Diagnosis and Management of Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Among Children.

Importance: Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), or concussion, in children is a rapidly growing public health concern because epidemiologic data indicate a marked increase in the number of emergency department visits for mTBI over the past decade. However, no evidence-based clinical guidelines have been developed to date for diagnosing and managing pediatric mTBI in the United States. Objective: To provide a guideline based on a previous systematic review of the literature to obtain and assess evidence toward developing clinical recommendations for health care professionals related to the diagnosis, prognosis, and management/treatment of pediatric mTBI. Evidence Review: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Center for Injury Prevention and Control Board of Scientific Counselors, a federal advisory committee, established the Pediatric Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Guideline Workgroup. The workgroup drafted recommendations based on the evidence that was obtained and assessed within the systematic review, as well as related evidence, scientific principles, and expert inference. This information includes selected studies published since the evidence review was conducted that were deemed by the workgroup to be relevant to the recommendations. The dates of the initial literature search were January 1, 1990, to November 30, 2012, and the dates of the updated literature search were December 1, 2012, to July 31, 2015. Findings: The CDC guideline includes 19 sets of recommendations on the diagnosis, prognosis, and management/treatment of pediatric mTBI that were assigned a level of obligation (ie, must, should, or may) based on confidence in the evidence. Recommendations address imaging, symptom scales, cognitive testing, and standardized assessment for diagnosis; history and risk factor assessment, monitoring, and counseling for prognosis; and patient/family education, rest, support, return to school, and symptom management for treatment. Conclusions and Relevance: This guideline identifies the best practices for mTBI based on the current evidence; updates should be made as the body of evidence grows. In addition to the development of the guideline, CDC has created user-friendly guideline implementation materials that are concise and actionable. Evaluation of the guideline and implementation materials is crucial in understanding the influence of the recommendations.

Single-incision laparoscopic transumbilical shunt placement.

Ventriculoperitoneal (VP) shunt placement is the most common surgical treatment for hydrocephalus. Laparoscopic techniques to aid in the placement of the peritoneal portion have been reported previously. Laparoscopic shunt placement has been associated with decreased operating time, less blood loss, and shorter hospital stays. The authors describe a single-incision laparoscopic shunt (SILS) insertion technique that facilitates directed placement of the peritoneal portion of the catheter in children. A total of 6 pediatric patients underwent the SILS procedure between December 2008 and March 2009. This cohort included 5 girls and 1 boy; the average age was 6 years (range 1 day-16 years). One patient had previously undergone a VP shunt placement, but all other patients were undergoing the initial creation of their shunt. The most common pathological condition encountered was posttraumatic hydrocephalus (2 patients). All patients underwent successful placement of the peritoneal catheters. All catheters were seen to have CSF flowing freely within the peritoneal space. The authors' recent experience shows that SILS placement is safe and feasible in children. It allows accurate, directed placement of the VP shunt with a single, almost invisible, umbilical incision. The shunt tubing is remote from this incision.

Transnasal odontoid resection followed by posterior decompression and occipitocervical fusion in children with Chiari malformation Type I and ventral brainstem compression.

OBJECT: In rare cases, children with a Chiari malformation Type I (CM-I) suffer from concomitant, irreducible, ventral brainstem compression that may result in cranial neuropathies or brainstem dysfunction. In these circumstances, a 360 degrees decompression supplemented by posterior stabilization and fusion is required. In this report, the authors present the first experience with using an endoscopic transnasal corridor to accomplish ventral decompression in children with CM-I that is complicated by ventral brainstem compression. METHODS: Two children presented with a combination of occipital headaches, swallowing dysfunction, myelopathy, and/or progressive scoliosis. Imaging studies demonstrated CM-I with severely retroflexed odontoid processes and ventral brainstem compression. Both patients underwent an endoscopic transnasal approach for ventral decompression, followed by posterior decompression, expansive duraplasty, and occipital-cervical fusion. RESULTS: In both patients the endoscopic transnasal approach provided excellent ventral access to decompress the brainstem. When compared with the transoral approach, endoscopic transnasal access presents 4 potential advantages: 1) excellent prevertebral exposure in patients with small oral cavities; 2) a surgical corridor located above the hard palate to decompress rostral pathological entities more easily; 3) avoidance of the oral trauma and edema that follows oral retractor placement; and 4) avoidance of splitting the soft or hard palate in patients with oral-palatal dysfunction from ventral brainstem compression. CONCLUSIONS: The endoscopic transnasal approach is atraumatic to the oral cavity, and offers a more superior region of exposure when compared with the standard transoral approach. Depending on their comfort level with endoscopic surgical techniques, pediatric neurosurgeons should consider this approach in children with pathological entities requiring ventral brainstem decompression.

Pediatric sural nerve harvest: a fully endoscopic technique.

OBJECTIVE: The sural nerve has long been a favorite for peripheral nerve repair. Traditional "stocking seam" and "stair-step" harvest techniques both have serious drawbacks, including unsightly scarring with contractures occasionally leading to equinovarus deformities, long operative time, and poor quality and length of graft. Our objective was to develop a truly endoscopic method of sural nerve harvest using 1 small incision and 1 stab incision. METHODS: An endoscope designed for harvesting vascular conduits was used for nerve graft dissection. The nerve was then cut through a stab incision below the popliteal fossa. Sural nerve harvest was performed on 3 pediatric patients, aged 5 months to 3.5 years, between October and December of 2007. RESULTS: Nerve graft lengths were 9.5 to 13 cm. The mean operative time was 18 minutes from incision to graft removal and 36 minutes from incision to dressing placement. During all procedures, the brachial plexus exploration proceeded unimpeded during the graft harvest. Under microscopic inspection, the nerve grafts were much less damaged than those harvested previously with the stair-step technique. There were no complications during a mean follow-up period of 3 months. CONCLUSION: Advantages over previously described techniques include: 1) reduction from three or four 1.5-cm incisions to one 1.5-cm incision and one 3-mm incision, 2) a significant decrease in operative time, 3) increased ease of performing the graft harvest simultaneously with the brachial plexus dissection, and 4) a notable improvement in the graft, both in length and appearance.

Tonsillectomy without craniectomy for the management of infantile Chiari I malformation.

OBJECT: The authors report their experience with 15 pediatric patients who underwent resection or shrinkage of the cerebellar tonsils without craniectomy or laminectomy, for the management of Chiari I malformation. METHODS: The procedure was performed in six boys and nine girls with a mean age of 10 years. Thirteen patients presented with the congenital form of this disorder and two patients with Chiari I malformation caused by lumboperitoneal shunting. Clinical complaints included headaches (seven patients), scoliosis (four patients), numbness of the extremities (four patients), and upper-limb weakness (two patients). Two patients presented with failure to thrive and one with vocal cord palsy. Eight patients (six girls and two boys) had syringomyelia. The patients' symptoms had developed within a mean time period of 21 months (range 1-70 months). In all patients the cerebellar tonsils were exposed through a dura mater-arachnoid incision at the occipitoatlantal space. In seven patients the tonsils were resected and in the remaining eight patients the tonsils were shrunk by coagulating their surfaces. All patients improved postoperatively. Gliosis with cortical atrophy was observed in the resected neural tissue. Syringomyelia was reduced in seven of eight patients. The mean length of the follow-up period was 7 months. CONCLUSIONS: Removal of herniated cerebellar tonsils can be sufficient for alleviating symptoms in patients with Chiari I malformations.