Articles: brain-injuries.
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Clin Neurol Neurosurg · Sep 2006
Randomized Controlled TrialEffect of methylphenidate on ICU and hospital length of stay in patients with severe and moderate traumatic brain injury.
Traumatic brain injury is one of the major causes of death and disability among young people. Methylphenidate, a neural stimulant and protective drug, which has been mainly used for childhood attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, has shown some benefits in late psychosocial problems in patients with traumatic brain injury. Its effect on arousal and consciousness has been also revealed in the sub-acute phase of traumatic brain injury. We studied its effect on the acute phase of moderate and severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) in relation to the length of ICU and hospital admission. ⋯ There were no significant differences between the treatment and control groups in terms of age, sex, post resuscitation GCS, or brain CT scan findings, in either severely or moderately TBI patients. Methylphenidate was associated with reductions in ICU and hospital length of stay by 23% in severely TBI patients (P = 0.06 for ICU and P = 0.029 for hospital stay time). However, in the moderately TBI patients who received methylphenidate, there was 26% fall (P = 0.05) only in ICU length of stay.
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J. Cereb. Blood Flow Metab. · Jun 2006
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative StudyEffect of long-term mild hypothermia or short-term mild hypothermia on outcome of patients with severe traumatic brain injury.
To compare the effect of long-term mild hypothermia versus short-term mild hypothermia on the outcome of 215 severe traumatic brain injured patients with cerebral contusion and intracranial hypertension. At three medical centers, 215 patients aged 18 to 45 years old with an admission Glasgow Coma Scale < or =8 within 4 h after injury were randomly divided into two groups: long-term mild hypothermia group (n = 108) for 5+/-1.3 days mild hypothermia therapy and short-term mild hypothermia group (n = 107) for 2+/-0.6 days mild hypothermia therapy. All patients had intracranial hypertension and frontotemporoparietal contusion with midline shift >1 cm confirmed on computed tomographic scan. ⋯ Furthermore, the incidence of stress ulcer, epilepsy, pulmonary infection, intracranial infection did not significantly differ between the two groups (P > 0.05). Compared with short-term mild hypothermia, long-term mild hypothermia significantly improves the outcome of severe traumatic brain injured patients with cerebral contusion and intracranial hypertension without significant complications. Our data suggest that 5 days of long-term cooling is more efficacious than 2 days of short-term cooling when mild hypothermia is used to control refractory intracranial hypertension in patients with severe traumatic brain injury.
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Acta Neurochir. Suppl. · Jan 2006
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter StudyDecompressive craniectomy in traumatic brain injury: the randomized multicenter RESCUEicp study (www.RESCUEicp.com).
The RESCUEicp (Randomized Evaluation of Surgery with Craniectomy for Uncontrollable Elevation of intracranial pressure) study has been established to determine whether decompressive craniectomy has a role in the management of patients with traumatic brain injury and raised intracranial pressure that does not respond to initial treatment measures. We describe the concept of decompressive craniectomy in traumatic brain injury and the rationale and protocol of the RESCUEicp study.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
Hypothermia pediatric head injury trial: the value of a pretrial clinical evaluation phase.
The utility of a pretrial clinical evaluation or run-in phase prior to conducting trials of complex interventions such as hypothermia therapy following severe traumatic brain injury in children and adolescents has not been established. ⋯ The pretrial clinical evaluation phase was useful to ensure compliance with complex hypothermia therapy and consensus-based clinical management guidelines of care successfully implemented across 17 of 18 centers. This study maneuver allowed us to complete a subsequent RCT in 225 children following severe traumatic brain injury.