Brain injury in children and adolescents

Abstract

Acquired brain damage in children is not uncommon, head injuries being the most frequent cause. Brain injury may also occur during the very vulnerable periods of rapid growth of the foetal brain from prenatal trauma/strokes, during a difficult birth, or postnatally from strokes, infections (e.g. meningitis and encephalitis), metabolic disturbances (e.g. phenylketonuria), treatment (e.g. central nervous system (CNS) surgery or radiotherapy for leukaemia) or toxins (e.g. alcohol and valproate). This paper concentrates on the assessment of and interventions following acquired brain injury sustained after the first 2 years of life, that is, after a period of relatively normal development when there has been an expectation that a child will follow the usual trajectory in development and learning throughout childhood and adolescence. Acquired brain injury in younger children tends to have global and profound effects, for instance, from CNS radiation (Said et al, 1989) or head injury (Levin et al, 1995). Injury in older children may result in more specific or focal problems depending on the mechanism of injury.