EPIDEMIOLOGICAL PROFILE OF TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY VICTIMS ASSISTED BY SAMU-SALVADOR

Abstract

Introduction: In Brazil, trauma appears as a serious health problem, where traumatic brain injury (TBI) has the highest morbidity and mortality rates. It is estimated that the time between the occurrence of trauma and proper diagnosis and treatment is essential for patient recovery, particularly during the first hour, called Golden hour. In Salvador, the SAMU is the service responsible for this assistance and the monitoring of frequencies of disorders and factors associated to trauma could contribute towards attaining improvements in this assistance. Objective: characterize the epidemiological profile of the occurrences of TBI victims assisted by the SAMU-Salvador and some aspects related to the service rendered, during the period of October 2006 to December 2010.  Methods:  A descriptive study, evaluating secondary data of all the incidence reports of TBI victims assisted by SAMU, in Salvador-Bahia-Brazil. Results: There were 105 registers of victims analyzed, where most were of the male gender (74.3%) of ages between 21 and 40 year (32.1%). The main cause of the TBI was from falls (36.2%), followed by being run over (19.0%). Thursdays and Sundays appeared with greater frequency (71.4%). An increase was observed in the coefficients of the prevalence for external causes and TBI throughout the years.  Conclusion: The epidemiological profile of the victims of TBI served by the SAMU-Salvador was formed mainly young economically active male individuals. The results point out to the need for improvement in the notification system o the SAMU.