World Neurosurg
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Decompressive craniectomy (DC) for traumatic brain injury (TBI) can be used in 2 completely different situations: primary and secondary DC. Although intracranial pressure (ICP) monitoring has proved to be helpful in guiding therapy for head injuries, its role after primary DC is not well analyzed. The aim of this study was to elucidate the relationship between ICP monitoring and outcomes in patients undergoing primary DC for TBI. ⋯ Our data suggest that ICP monitoring after primary DC for head-injured patients significantly decreases in-hospital mortality and should be implemented in neurocritical care to ensure the highest chances of surviving TBI.
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The Hospital Readmission Reduction Program section of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act uses readmission rates as a proxy for measuring quality of care. Multiple studies have demonstrated that readmission rates are highly imprecise proxies for quality of care because readmission rates contain large amounts of statistical noise and are dependent on disease type, insurance type, severity, population, and a multitude of other factors. The current study was conducted to investigate characteristics associated with readmission and the quality of neurosurgical care. ⋯ The findings suggest that readmission is affected by patient factors that are beyond the control of treating physicians. These findings also suggest that readmission rates may not be a good proxy for measurement of quality of care in neurosurgical patients.
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To measure the presence and popularity of neurosurgical departments, journals, and nonprofit organizations on 3 major social networks. ⋯ The current study shows different uses of social media platforms and numbers of users of the online neurosurgical community. Content optimization, advanced metrics of user engagement, and their subsequent effects on academic impact remain unanswered queries and require further prospective study.