Traumatic injury of the nervous system and the spine require expert and timely management to maximize the potential for healing and recovery. Our neurosurgical team has extensive experience in surgical and non-surgical management of trauma. In fact, our neurosurgeons have led major trauma centers in perfecting the timely management of injured patients.

A multidisciplinary approach with optimization of critical care is the first and most important step. Emergent scanning, diagnosis and timely treatment is the second. Rehabilitative efforts are the last (but not the least) in maximizing the patients’ functional capability and optimizing their outcome.

Rigorous research is being done locally and nationally to prevent and treat traumatic injury to the nervous system. The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) supports TBI research through grants to major medical institutions across the country and conducts TBI research in its intramural laboratories and Clinical Center at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland. The Center for Neuroscience and Regenerative Medicine (CNRM) is a TBI research collaboration between intramural NIH and the Uniformed Services University for the Health Sciences (USUHS). NINDS-funded research involves studies in the laboratory and in clinical settings to better understand TBI and the biological mechanisms underlying damage to the brain. This research will allow scientists to develop strategies and interventions to limit the primary and secondary brain damage that occurs within days of a head trauma, and to devise therapies to treat brain injury and improve long-term recovery of function. More information about Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Research is available at: http://www.ninds.nih.gov/research/tbi/index.htm