Head Injury: A Multidisciplinary Approach

The management of patients with head injury requires a pragmatic, multi-professional approach, as exemplified in this book. The content includes chapters on epidemiology, experimental models, pathology, clinical examination, neuroimaging and trauma scoring systems. A large section of the text then deals with the management of the head-injured patient along the whole patient pathway, addressing issues such as emergency department care, transfer of the patient, intensive care and surgical aspects. Rehabilitation is reviewed in detail with chapters that discuss the aims and roles of physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech and language therapy and neuropsychology. Finally, medico-legal issues are evaluated. The practical approach to management is emphasized throughout. This book will be of interest to all doctors looking after patients with head injury: emergency physicians, neurosurgeons, anaesthetists, intensivists, and members of the rehabilitation team. Allied specialists such as nurses, physiotherapists, speech and language therapists, occupational therapists, and neuropsychologists will also find this book useful.

Peter C. Whitfield is a Consultant Neurosurgeon and Honorary Clinical Senior Lecturer at the South West Neurosurgery Centre, Derriford Hospital, Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust, Plymouth, UK.

Elfyn O. Thomas is a Consultant in Anaesthesia and Intensive Care at Derriford Hospital, Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust, Plymouth, UK.

Fiona Summers is a Consultant Clinical Neuropsychologist at the Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, NHS Grampian, Aberdeen, UK.

Maggie Whyte is a Consultant Clinical Neuropsychologist at the Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, NHS Grampian, Aberdeen, UK.

Peter J. Hutchinson is a Senior Academy Fellow and Honorary Consultant Neurosurgeon at the Academic Neurosurgical Unit, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Cambridge, UK.