Acute treatment is any treatment that occurs immediately following the injury, through the time your child is stabilized. This includes any treatment given by Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) at the scene of the accident or on route to the hospital, as well as treatment given in the emergency room. During this phase, measures will be taken to save your child’s life, as well as to minimize the damage to the brain.

The main goal of doctors during the acute phase is to minimize and control the amount of swelling and pressure in the brain. That’s because swelling and pressure can result in further brain damage, in addition to the damage sustained in the injury or accident itself. Swelling and pressure is generally controlled through medication, though in some cases surgery is needed. If your child needs surgery, it’s important to remember that statistically the need to have surgery does not factor into the long-term outcome—in other words, kids who have surgery have similar recoveries to those who don’t have surgery. The need to have surgery does not mean that your child’s brain injury is more severe than a brain injury in which surgery is not needed.

One question that all parents have is, “How long is my child going to be in the hospital?” There is no typical answer to this question. As a general rule of thumb, children who have sustained a brain injury will remain in the ICU until the injuries are no longer life-threatening, then will move to a floor on the hospital that specializes in neurological issues. The child will remain on this floor until the medical team feels she is ready for subacute treatment, at which point she will be moved to a rehabilitation facility.