Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a significant and often under-appreciated threat to public health worldwide. Injuries are estimated to be responsible for approximately 5 million deaths per year internationally, and TBI accounts for a significant proportion of these deaths.

The majority of injury-related deaths occur in low-and-middle income countries (LMICs), and these figures are likely to increase with rapid urbanisation and a lack of appropriate road safety measures. However, despite the burden of neurotrauma disproportionately affecting LMICs, the majority of research into its management is conducted in and tailored to well-resourced environments. An evidence base is urgently needed to guide management of this emerging global health problem in the regions where it is most prevalent and devastating.

As part of the NIHR Global Research Group on Neurotrauma (GHRGN), we have established a global traumatic brain injury registry endorsed by the World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies (WFNS).

To design the registry in a consensus-based fashion, we conducted a workshop at the launch of the GHRGN in September 2017 with an international multi-disciplinary panel of experts, an expert panel discussion as part of the Lancet Neurology TBI theme launch in November 2017, and a final consensus meeting at ICRAN in June 2018. We have received feedback from neurotrauma experts from Ethiopia, Tanzania, Zambia, India, Malaysia, Indonesia, Myanmar, Pakistan, Colombia, Haiti, Norway, Poland, Italy, Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom.

The registry is currently open to participating centres worldwide and data collection is ongoing.

Further information can be found on the GEO-TBI website.