Traumatic Brain Injury

Key Researcher

Gaylan Rockswold, MD

Gaylan Rockswold, MD PhD, is Chief of Neurosurgery at Hennepin County Medical Center and Professor of Neurosurgery at the University of Minnesota. He has had an active clinical practice for 32 years and has cared for thousands of patients with various neurosurgical problems. Throughout his career, he has been extensively involved in mentoring and educating medical students and neurosurgical residents and has personally trained over 60 neurosurgical chief residents who have gone on to academic and private practice.

Dr. Rockswold is the foremost authority in the use of hyperbaric oxygen in traumatic brain injury and has received three prestigious National Institutes of Health grants to conduct the most advanced traumatic brain injury research. He has received three awards from the Brain Injury Association of Minnesota in recognition of his significant contributions to the cause of persons with brain injury through action and personal accomplishment. He has been recognized by his peers as one of Americas Top Doctors in US News and World Report.

Traumatic Brain Injury

Research conducted at the Traumatic Brain Injury center has greatly advanced our understanding of how to treat traumatic brain injuries. The current Neurosurgery research project is "Comparison Between Different Types of Oxygen Treatment Following Severe Closed Head Injury".

Traumatic Brain Injury Statistics

Every 15 seconds someone is injured by a TBI in the U.S.
A death due to a TBI occurs every 5 minutes (50,000 deaths annually).
Someone is permanently disabled by a TBI every 5 minutes.
2 million traumatic brain injuries occur per year.
There are 1 million emergency room visits due to a TBI each year.
500,000 TBI injuries require hospitalization.
Direct and indirect costs of TBI injury amount to $56 billion in the U.S. annually.
TBI is the greatest cause of death and severe disability within the young adult age group.
Mild TBIs, or concussions, alone comprise 80% of all brain injuries and cost the United States an estimated 17 billion dollars.

Traumatic Brain Injury Research Endowed Chair
The Endowed Chair in Traumatic Brain Injury Research will allow clinical investigators to move forward HCMC's groundbreaking hyperbaric oxygen research program. It will also expand HCMC's educational outreach on traumatic brain injuries to physicians, nurses, and emergency medical personnel around the state as well as to the general public.

Expanded clinical capacity of the Traumatic Brain Injury Center
To better serve traumatic brain injury patients, the various program components of the Traumatic Brain Injury Center need to be more centralized. Facility and capital investments will include:

Remodeled inpatient rehabilitation unit and additional semi-private and private rooms
Remodeled SICU unit and additional semi-private and private rooms.
Remodeled and expanded ambulatory care space, including a separate waiting area for brain injury patients and families
Expansion of the Knapp Rehabilitation Center and the SICU to meet the needs of patients as the program for traumatic brain injuries grows
Enhanced PET scanning equipment and capabilities to enhance research efforts and also for use by clinical specialties throughout the medical center