Articles: traumatic-brain-injuries.
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Journal of neurotrauma · May 2024
Adaptation and validation of the Standardized Swallowing Assessment tool for patients with moderate-severe brain injury and cervical spinal cord injury.
Oropharyngeal dysphagia is common in moderate-severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) and cervical spinal cord injury (SCI) patients and can have serious consequences. Delaying feeding in these patients can also be detrimental. Nonetheless, the psychometric properties of screening tools that can promptly identify dysphagia have never been tested in these neurotrauma populations. ⋯ Findings support the content validation and inter-rater reliability of the adapted French-Canadian version of the SSA tool in moderate-severe TBI and cervical SCI patients. Sensitivity was acceptable in both groups, but the specificity was lower, especially in moderate-severe TBI patients. Further validation of the adapted French-Canadian version of the SSA tool is needed in neurotrauma patients to confirm these results and to ensure safe dysphagia screening while avoiding oral feeding deferrals.
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Observational Study
Association Between Frailty and Head Impact Location After Ground-Level Fall in Older Adults.
Mild traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) are highly prevalent in older adults, and ground-level falls are the most frequent mechanism of injury. ⋯ This study found an association between the level of frailty and the head impact location in older patients who sustained a ground-level fall. Our results suggest that head impact location after a fall can help physicians identify frail patients. Although not statistically significant, the prevalence of intracranial hemorrhage seems to increase with the level of frailty.
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Journal of neurosurgery · May 2024
Focal brain oxygen, blood flow, and intracranial pressure measurements in relation to optimal cerebral perfusion pressure.
Different paradigms for neurocritical care of traumatic brain injury (TBI) have emerged in conjunction with advanced neuromonitoring technologies and derived metrics. The priority for optimizing these metrics is not currently clear. The goal of this study was to determine whether achieving cerebral perfusion pressure (CPPopt) also improves other metrics like brain oxygenation and brain blood flow. ⋯ Although CPPopt was not targeted in the patients in this study, CPPopt was a physiologically significant value based on concurrent measurements of PbtO2 and blood flow. In summative data, achievement of CPPopt was associated with optimized PbtO2 and blood flow. Conversely, the correlation between achievement of CPPopt and the mean measurement value was not strong, strengthening the significance of CPPopt. In individual patients, achieving CPPopt is not always associated with optimal PbtO2 or blood flow. Further research should explore these relationships in treatment paradigms that specifically target CPPopt. These data do not support the premise that targeting and achieving CPPopt obviates the need for concurrent PbtO2 and blood flow monitoring. Although these data suggest that targeting CPPopt may be an appropriate initial treatment strategy, they do not provide evidence that CPPopt should be targeted with highest priority.
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Severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a leading cause of pediatric mortality, with a disproportionate burden on low- and middle-income countries. The impact of concomitant extracranial injury (ECI) on these patients remains unclear. This study is the first to characterize the epidemiology and clinical course of severe pediatric TBI with extracranial injuries in any South American country. ⋯ Extracranial injuries are common in South American patients with severe TBI. Severe ECI is more frequently associated with RTIs and can result in a higher rate of surgical procedures and LOS. Further strategies are needed to characterize the prevention and treatment of severe pediatric TBI in the South American context.