Rehabilitation After Moderate-To-Severe Traumatic Injury: A Protocol for a Scoping Review

Traumatic injury is a leading cause of death and disability worldwide. Advances in acute trauma care have improved survival rates, shifting the focus towards long-term outcomes and the role of rehabilitation in recovery. Although rehabilitation is clearly defined by the World Health Organisation, substantial variation exists in both clinical practice and in the scientific literature. This scoping review will systematically map the literature on rehabilitation after moderate-to-severe traumatic injury and identify potential knowledge gaps to guide future research and clinical practice.

The scoping review will follow the Joanna Briggs Institute Methodology and will be reported in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses for Scoping Reviews. Eligible studies must explore rehabilitation services delivered by healthcare professionals across any healthcare setting along the trauma care pathway for adults (≥ 18 years) with moderate-to-severe traumatic injury. A systematic literature search will be conducted in MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO, The Cochrane Library, and CINAHL. Screening and data extraction will be performed independently by two reviewers using Covidence, with disagreements resolved by consensus.

Descriptive characteristics of the included studies with data items (study characteristics, participant demographics, rehabilitation approach, care setting, reported outcomes, and key findings) will be summarised in a tabular form. A narrative synthesis will be conducted supported by visual representation to illustrate research patterns and highlight knowledge gaps.

This scoping review will provide an overview of existing literature on rehabilitation after moderate-to-severe traumatic injury and identify key areas where further research is needed.