Articles: brain-injuries.
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Anasthesiol Intensivmed Notfallmed Schmerzther · Oct 2000
[The treatment of severe head-brain injuries in Austria] .
We performed this study in order to assess epidemiology and current practice of treatment of severe traumatic brain injury in Austria. Our survey followed the methods of a study published by J. Ghajar et al in the USA in 1995 and we compared the results to the Brain Trauma Foundation's "Guidelines For The Management Of Severe Head Injury". ⋯ Results showed that there is a need for a brain trauma databank in Austria. We also recommend formation of an interdisciplinary brain trauma working group in order to control whether guidelines and standardized therapeutic modalities are being followed.
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Journal of neurosurgery · Oct 2000
Effect of long-term mild hypothermia therapy in patients with severe traumatic brain injury: 1-year follow-up review of 87 cases.
The goal of this study was to investigate the protective effects of long-term (3-14 days) mild hypothermia therapy (33-35 degrees C) on outcome in 87 patients with severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) (Glasgow Coma Scale score < or = 8). ⋯ The data produced by this study demonstrate that long-term mild hypothermia therapy significantly improves outcomes in patients with severe TBI.
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Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is the principal cause of death and disability for young Americans, with an estimated societal cost of over $39 billion per year. The Defense and Veterans Head Injury Program (DVHIP) represents a close collaboration among the Departments of Defense (DoD) and Veterans Affairs (DVA), the Brain Injury Association (BIA), and the International Brain Injury Association (IBIA). ⋯ It is thus based on a prudent integration of clinical care and follow-up with programmatic clinical and clinically related laboratory research, TBI prevention, and education. This previously nonexistent clinical infrastructure now offers a valuable base for ongoing TBI clinical research.
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J Neurosurg Anesthesiol · Oct 2000
Comparative StudyComparison between hypertonic saline and mannitol in the reduction of elevated intracranial pressure in a rodent model of acute cerebral injury.
Clinically both mannitol and hypertonic saline (HTS) have been used successfully to treat elevated intracranial pressure (ICP), although which therapy is superior is yet unclear. Most experimental data have been derived from animal models of brain injury using general anesthesia, which may not be applicable under other conditions. Our laboratory compared the efficacy of single, equi-osmolar bolus doses of HTS and mannitol in reducing elevated ICP in a lightly sedated, unrestrained rodent model of acute brain injury. ⋯ The therapeutic action of HTS was also more durable, lasting up to 500 minutes whereas the mannitol treated animals were observed to return to, and overshoot the baseline elevated ICP by 10% to 25% by 120 minutes following dosing (P < .01). Despite these differences, brain water content was similar between groups. We conclude that HTS was more effective in reducing elevated ICP in this awake model of traumatic brain injury.