Outcomes and costs of acute treatment of traumatic brain injury.

Background: Although there are nearly a quarter of a million hospitalizations for traumatic brain injury (TBI) in the United States each year, data on the outcomes and costs of TBI treatment in the acute-care setting are limited.

Methods: Using a large, geographically diverse, multihospital database, we examined inpatient records for persons aged 16 years or older who were hospitalized for TBI between January 1, 1997, and June 30, 1999. Patients were stratified by TBI severity using an adaptation of the Abbreviated Injury Scale for administrative data (ICD/AIS), as follows: 2 = "moderate"; 3 = "serious"; 4 = "severe"; and 5 = "critical.