• Accomplishments
• Contact

• Research
• Spinal Cord Injury Projects
• Traumatic Brain Injury Projects
  • Assessment & Intervention for Mild TBI
  • Can Eye Movements Predict Persistent Problems in Paediatric Mild TBI?
  • Cognitive and Neural Substrates of Socially Maladaptive Behaviours in Adolescents with Traumatic Brain Injury
  • DECRA Trial (DECompressive CRAniectomy Trial)
  • Enhancing Neurogenesis Post -TBI
  • Fluid Resuscitation in TBI
  • Headstart: Multi-family Groups for Traumatic Brain Injury
  • Hypothermia in Childhood TBI (HiTBIC)
  • Improving the functional communication ability of adults with TBI
  • Long term consequences of childhood head injury - 15 year follow-up
  • Longitudinal Hippocampal Study
  • Measuring the Impact of TBI on People's Lives
  • Mobility Following Childhood TBI
  • New Treatments for Brain and Spinal Cord Injuries
  • Neural Basis of Communication Disorder in Children
  • Neurotrauma Tissue/Fluid Bank
  • Normoglycaemia in Intensive Care Traumatic Brain Injury Study (NICE-TBI)
  • Preventing Neuronal Cell Death Following Brain Trauma
  • Prevention and Treatment of Social Problems Following TBI
  • Rehabilitation of Attention Following TBI
  • Role of Tissue Type Plasminogen Activator
  • TBI in Older Adults
  • Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) Treatment in Depression After Traumatic Brain Injury
  • Traumatic Hypoxia and Cerebral Inflammation
  • Virtual Reality and Upper Limb Function Following TBI in Children
• Targeted Initiatives
• Completed TBI and SCI Projects
• Program Grants

DECRA Trial (DECompressive CRAniectomy Trial)

Multi-Centre Prospective Randomised Trial of Early Decompressive Craniectomy in Patients with Severe Traumatic Brain Injury

Chief Investigator: Professor Jamie Cooper
Lead Organisation: Bayside Health
VNI Funding: $89,769
Project Start Date: 01-Jan-08

Project Summary:
Severe head injury is the major cause of death in trauma patients admitted to hospital. Even with current best practice this results in only about one third of patients able to live independently in the long term. The rest are severely disabled, with a lifetime cost of $2.5 million per person, or deceased. Brain swelling in the days following injury increases the severity of brain damage. The usual control measures in intensive care are often ineffective. Decompressive craniectomy is a surgical operation to decrease brain pressures. This surgical operation has a good chance of improving outcomes. Clinicians however do not know whether the operation achieves its goal of improving patient outcomes. This question is considered to be of great importance internationally. We are testing the concept in a highest quality randomised clinical trial in 19 centres in Australia, New Zealand and internationally. One hundred and six participants are enrolled with a further 59 participants required to complete the study. An interim analysis of the data was favourable and highly supportive. This study has been funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council, Transport Accident Commission, Victorian Neurotrauma Initiative, Intensive Care Foundation and Western Australian Institute of Medical Research.