Articles: brain-injuries.
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Recently, a multicenter randomized controlled trial (RCT) by Cooper and colleagues indicated that decompressive craniectomy (DC) may be associated with a worse functional outcome in patients with diffuse traumatic brain injury (TBI), although DC can immediately and constantly reduce intracranial pressure (ICP). As this trial is well planned and of high quality, the unexpected result is meaningful. However, the evidence of the study is insufficient and the effect of DC in severe TBI is still uncertain. Additional multicenter RCTs are necessary to provide class I evidence on the role of DC in the treatment of refractory raised ICP after severe TBI.
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Probiotics are live micro-organisms with a health promoting effect. Because of their immunomodulating capacity as well as improvement of gut barrier function, probiotics have the capacity to prevent infectious complications in a variety of clinical settings. Now selected probiotics show potential for improving the clinical outcome of severe trauma patients.