The Traumatic Brain Injury and Spinal Cord Trauma Program
Pediatric head injuries are a major cause of childhood morbidity in the United States, with boys twice as likely to be injured as girls. Here we see sports and non-sports-related injuries. In a substantial minority of such cases, there is a concomitant injury to the spinal cord. Fortunately, most pediatric head injuries are “medical” and do not require neurosurgical intervention. Such medical injuries include: most scalp swellings, most skull fractures, brain concussion, cerebral contusion, post-traumatic seizures and increased intracranial pressure. In many such cases, physicians in the Division of Pediatric Neurology work closely with many subspecialties available at BMC including: neurosurgery, orthopedics, intensive care team, epileptologists, sleep specialists, specialized services in Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Vestibular therapy, Cognitive therapy, Ophthalmology, ENT, Feeding specialists, Nutrition and Psychology/Psychiatry services in the management of these children. .
Dr. Alcy R. Torres and his team has worked in this area for more than twenty years, providing teaching and clinical guidance to professionals involved in the evaluation and management of children with head and spinal cord injuries.
The Emergency Department (ED) at Boston Medical Center is a state-of-the-art facility with 24-hour coverage by highly skilled physicians who provide comprehensive emergency medical care. Located in the heart of Boston’s historic South End, we offer a full complement of medical, surgical and subspecialty consult services.
Boston Medical Center is the largest and busiest provider of trauma and emergency services in New England. Our Emergency Department serves more than 130,000 patients each year and is a national model of excellence in emergency medicine.
Our team consists of experienced emergency medicine attending physicians, emergency nurses, mental health specialists, social workers and emergency medicine residents.
We offer a combined Pediatric Resident Program with Children’s Hospital, a pediatric neurology training, adult neurology training and a sports neurology fellowship. As an independent academic department at Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, our Pediatric Neurology Division has become a respected leader among clinical departments in our region.