Articles: traumatic-brain-injuries.
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Clin Neurol Neurosurg · Aug 2014
ReviewChemoprophylaxis for venous thromboembolism in traumatic brain injury: a review and evidence-based protocol.
Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a recognized source of morbidity and mortality in patients suffering traumatic brain injury (TBI). While traumatic brain injury is a recognized risk factor for the development of VTE, its presence complicates the decision to begin anticoagulation due to fear of exacerbating the intracranial hemorrhagic injury. ⋯ The review reveals robust evidence regarding the safety and efficacy of chemoprophylaxis in the setting of TBI following demonstration of a stable intracranial injury. In light of this data, a protocol is assembled that, in the absence of predetermined exclusion criteria, will initiate chemoprophylaxis within 24h after the demonstration of a stable intracranial injury by computed tomography (CT).
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Journal of neurosurgery · Aug 2014
Relevance of early head CT scans following neurosurgical procedures: an analysis of 892 intracranial procedures at Rush University Medical Center.
Early postoperative head CT scanning is routinely performed following intracranial procedures for detection of complications, but its real value remains uncertain: so-called abnormal results are frequently found, but active, emergency intervention based on these findings may be rare. The authors' objective was to analyze whether early postoperative CT scans led to emergency surgical interventions and if the results of neurological examination predicted this occurrence. ⋯ Over a 1-year period in an academic neurosurgery service, no patient who was neurologically intact or who had a predicted neurological change required an immediate return to the operating room based on early postoperative CT findings. Obtaining early CT scans should not be a priority in these patients and may even be cancelled in favor of MRI studies, if the latter have already been planned and can be performed safely and in a timely manner. Early postoperative CT scanning does not assure an uneventful course, nor should it replace accurate and frequent neurological checks, because operative interventions were always decided in conjunction with the neurological examination.
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Clin Neurol Neurosurg · Aug 2014
Longitudinal incidence and concurrence rates for traumatic brain injury and spine injury - a twenty year analysis.
The reported incidence of concurrent traumatic brain (TBI) and spine or spinal cord injuries (SCI) is poorly defined, with widely variable literature rates from 16 to 74%. ⋯ A retrospective review of the NIS demonstrates a rising trend in the incidence of concurrent TBI and SCI. More investigative work is necessary to examine causative factors for this trend.
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Clinical Trial Observational Study
Plasma copeptin level predicts acute traumatic coagulopathy and progressive hemorrhagic injury after traumatic brain injury.
Higher plasma copeptin levels correlate with poor clinical outcomes after traumatic brain injury. Nevertheless, their links with acute traumatic coagulopathy and progressive hemorrhagic injury are unknown. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the relationship between plasma copeptin levels, acute traumatic coagulopathy and progressive hemorrhagic injury in patients with severe traumatic brain injury. ⋯ The predictive performance of copeptin was similar to that of Glasgow Coma Scale score. However, copeptin did not obviously improve the predictive value of Glasgow Coma Scale score. Thus, copeptin may help in the prediction of progressive hemorrhagic injury and acute traumatic coagulopathy after traumatic brain injury.
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Arch Clin Neuropsychol · Aug 2014
A prospective study of the influence of acute alcohol intoxication versus chronic alcohol consumption on outcome following traumatic brain injury.
The purpose of the study was to disentangle the relative contributions of day-of-injury alcohol intoxication and pre-injury alcohol misuse on outcome from TBI. Participants were 142 patients enrolled from a Level 1 Trauma Center (in Vancouver, Canada) following a traumatic brain injury (TBI; 43 uncomplicated mild TBI and 63 complicated mild-severe TBI) or orthopedic injury [36 trauma controls (TC)]. At 6-8 weeks post-injury, diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) of the whole brain was undertaken using a Phillips 3T scanner. ⋯ Using hierarchical regression analyses and generalized linear modeling, LAC and BAL did provide a unique contribution toward the prediction of attention and executive functioning abilities; however, the variance accounted for was small. LAC and BAL did not provide a unique and meaningful contribution toward the prediction of self-reported symptoms, DTI measures, or the majority of neurocognitive measures. In this study, BAL and LAC were not predictive of mental health symptoms, postconcussion symptoms, cognition, or white-matter changes at 6-8 weeks following TBI.