Table 2.

Inclusion/Exclusion Criteria for Source Literature

PICOTS	Inclusion	Exclusion
Populations	All ages Penetrating brain injury including blast, tangential, and perforating injury from missiles, blast fragments, or low velocity  • All baseline GCS levels  • Mixed types of brain injury with at least 85% penetrating if results not reported individually	• Non-human studies • Injury limited to linear, non-displaced skull fracture or isolated face/neck injuries • Mixed types of brain injury and results not presented by injury type or <85% penetrating injury
Interventions	Pre-hospital, prolonged field care, transport, ED, and trauma center evaluation: • Initial resuscitation and prevention/mitigation of secondary injury • On-scene wound management • Cervical spine immobilization Surgical management: • Prevention and treatment of cerebrospinal fluid leaks • Vascular injuries • Foreign body removal and prerequisites • Cranial decompression Medical management: • Intracranial pressure monitoring (if distinct from fourth edition) • Intracranial pressure treatment (hyperosmolar therapy, lumbar drainage, CPP management including BP thresholds, ventilation therapies) • Seizure prophylaxis • Antibiotic prophylaxis • DVT prophylaxis • Chemoprophylaxis for stroke prevention
Comparators	Placebo, no intervention, active control, waitlist control, delayed treatment, head-to-head studies	None
Outcomes	• Mortality • Neurological function • Selected morbidity • Cost	• Satisfaction • Quality of life • Sleep
Timing	Outcomes up to 1 year post-injury	Outcomes >1 year post-injury
Setting	Pre-hospital, trauma center, medical, surgical setting in all countries. Battlefield and mass causality as well as civilian	• Rehabilitation setting
Study designs	• All experimental study designs, observational studies including case series and case report • Epidemiological studies for salvageability • Current, well-conducted systematic reviews (may also use systematic reviews to identify studies searches may have missed)	• Abstracts, comments letters • Non-English language • Narrative reviews • Systematic reviews not meeting inclusion criteria

BP, blood pressure; CPP, cerebral perfusion pressure; DVT, deep vein thrombosis; GCS, Glasgow Coma Scale.