Provider perceptions of severe pediatric traumatic brain injury care priorities across hospitals in South America before and during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Background To understand provider perceptions of the COVID-19 pandemic on priorities of severe pediatric traumatic brain injury (TBI) care across hospitals in South America. Methods Site principal investigators (PIs) from 17 hospitals in South America enrolled in the PEGASUS-Argentina randomized controlled trial completed questionnaires regarding order of tasks performed in the care of a typical pediatric patient with severe TBI before (2019) and during (2021) the COVID-19 pandemic. Acute care processes were examined by quintiles to identify early, mid, and late actions and were categorized and compared. Associations of hospital volume and subspecialty resource availability with prioritization of key process actions were examined. Finding Site PIs from 15 and 16 hospitals completed the surveys in 2019 and 2021, respectively, including 14 who completed both. Action category order was stable between 2019 and 2021 and were ranked in priorities as: initial encounter, primary survey, interventions and invasive monitors, diagnostics, medications, staff communication, then disposition (in 2019) or nutrition (in 2021). There was variation in specific action order between hospitals at both timepoints, with only a few initial encounter and disposition actions limited to a single quintile. There was no reported association between hospital volume or subspecialty resource availability with prioritization of key process actions. Interpretation Despite novel healthcare challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, providers in South America perceived maintaining standard severe pediatric TBI care consistent with BTF guidelines. There was large variability in specific action order between individual hospitals reported.