• Fabien Trabold, Philippe G Meyer, Stéphane Blanot, Pierre A Carli, and Gilles A Orliaguet.
• Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care, Hôpital de Bicêtre, Le Kremlin Bicêtre, Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, Université Paris XI, 63 rue Gabriel Péri, 94276 Le Kremlin-Bicêtre, France.
• Intensive Care Med. 2004 Jan 1;30(1):108-12.

ObjectiveTo assess the potency of transcranial Doppler (TCD) to predict prognosis in children with moderate and severe head trauma.Design And SettingProspective single-center study in a level I pediatric trauma center.PatientsThirty-six consecutive patients with a prehospital diagnosis of moderate or severe head trauma admitted over a 6-month period.InterventionsOn arrival in the emergency room, TCD was performed and peak systolic velocities, end-diastolic velocity and time-averaged mean velocity in the middle cerebral artery were recorded. Pulsatility and resistance index were calculated. The Pediatric Trauma Score (PTS), Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score and Injury Severity Score (ISS) were also calculated. Patient neurological outcome was determined using the Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS) at discharge from hospital. GOS 1-2 were considered as "good prognosis" (group 1) and GOS 3-5 were considered as "poor prognosis" (group 2). RESULTS. Compared with group 1 patients, group 2 patients had a significantly lower mean GCS (5+/-3 vs 8+/-4, p<0.05) and PTS (2+/-2 vs 5+/-2), and a higher mean ISS (32+/-8 vs 19+/-11, p<0.05). An end-diastolic velocity less than 25 cm/s and a pulsatility index more than 1.31 were associated with a poor prognosis (p<0.05).ConclusionIn children with moderate and severe head trauma, our data suggest an association between the results of TCD assessment on arrival in the emergency room and the outcome at discharge from the hospital.

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