Early management of adult traumatic spinal cord injury in patients with polytrauma: a consensus and clinical recommendations jointly developed by the World Society of Emergency Surgery (WSES) & the European Association of Neurosurgical Societies (EANS)

Background: The early management of polytrauma patients with traumatic spinal cord injury (tSCI) is a major challenge. Sparse data is available to provide optimal care in this scenario and worldwide variability in clinical practice has been documented in recent studies. Methods: A multidisciplinary consensus panel of physicians selected for their established clinical and scientific expertise in the acute management of tSCI polytrauma patients with different specializations was established. The World Society of Emergency Surgery (WSES) and the European Association of Neurosurgical Societies (EANS) endorsed the consensus, and a modified Delphi approach was adopted. Results: A total of 17 statements were proposed and discussed. A consensus was reached generating 17 recommendations (16 strong and 1 weak). Conclusions: This consensus provides practical recommendations to support a clinician’s decision making in the management of tSCI polytrauma patients

Early management of adult traumatic spinal cord injury in patients with polytrauma: a consensus and clinical recommendations jointly developed by the World Society of Emergency Surgery (WSES) & the European Association of Neurosurgical Societies (EANS).

BACKGROUND: The early management of polytrauma patients with traumatic spinal cord injury (tSCI) is a major challenge. Sparse data is available to provide optimal care in this scenario and worldwide variability in clinical practice has been documented in recent studies. METHODS: A multidisciplinary consensus panel of physicians selected for their established clinical and scientific expertise in the acute management of tSCI polytrauma patients with different specializations was established. The World Society of Emergency Surgery (WSES) and the European Association of Neurosurgical Societies (EANS) endorsed the consensus, and a modified Delphi approach was adopted. RESULTS: A total of 17 statements were proposed and discussed. A consensus was reached generating 17 recommendations (16 strong and 1 weak). CONCLUSIONS: This consensus provides practical recommendations to support a clinician's decision making in the management of tSCI polytrauma patients

Early Fevers and Elevated Neutrophil-To-Lymphocyte Ratio Are Associated With Repeat Endovascular Interventions for Cerebral Vasospasm in Patients With Aneurysmal Subarachnoid Hemorrhage

BACKGROUND: Patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH) may develop refractory arterial cerebral vasospasm requiring multiple endovascular interventions. The aim of our study is to evaluate variables associated with need for repeat endovascular treatments in refractory vasospasm and to identify differences in outcomes following one versus multiple treatments. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed patients treated for aSAH between 2017 and 2020 at two tertiary care centers. We included patients who underwent treatment (intraarterial infusion of vasodilatory agents or mechanical angioplasty) for radiographically diagnosed vasospasm in our analysis. Patients were divided into those who underwent single treatment versus those who underwent multiple endovascular treatments for vasospasm. RESULTS: Of the total 418 patients with aSAH, 151 (45.9%) underwent endovascular intervention for vasospasm. Of 151 patients, 95 (62.9%) underwent a single treatment and 56 (37.1%) underwent two or more treatments. Patients were more likely to undergo multiple endovascular treatments if they had a Hunt-Hess score \u3e 2 (odds ratio [OR] 5.10 [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.82-15.84]; p = 0.003), a neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio \u3e 8.0 (OR 3.19 [95% CI 1.40-7.62]; p = 0.028), and more than two fevers within the first 5 days of admission (OR 7.03 [95% CI 2.68-20.94]; p \u3c 0.001). Patients with multiple treatments had poorer outcomes, including increased length of stay, delayed cerebral ischemia, in-hospital complications, and higher modified Rankin scores at discharge. CONCLUSIONS: A Hunt-Hess score \u3e 2, a neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio \u3e 8.0, and early fevers may be predictive of need for multiple endovascular interventions in refractory cerebral vasospasm after aSAH. These patients have poorer functional outcomes at discharge and higher rates of in-hospital complications

WSES consensus conference guidelines: monitoring and management of severe adult traumatic brain injury patients with polytrauma in the first 24 hours.

The acute phase management of patients with severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) and polytrauma represents a major challenge. Guidelines for the care of these complex patients are lacking, and worldwide variability in clinical practice has been documented in recent studies. Consequently, the World Society of Emergency Surgery (WSES) decided to organize an international consensus conference regarding the monitoring and management of severe adult TBI polytrauma patients during the first 24 hours after injury. A modified Delphi approach was adopted, with an agreement cut-off of 70%. Forty experts in this field (emergency surgeons, neurosurgeons, and intensivists) participated in the online consensus process. Sixteen recommendations were generated, with the aim of promoting rational care in this difficult setting

Magnetic Resonance Imaging Measures of Posterior Cranial Fossa Morphology and Cerebrospinal Fluid Physiology in Chiari Malformation Type I

BACKGROUND: It has been well documented that along with tonsillar herniation, Chiari Malformation Type I (CMI) is associated with smaller posterior cranial fossa (PCF) and altered CSF flow and tissue motion in the cranio-cervical junction (CCJ). OBJECTIVE: This study assesses the relationship between PCF volumetry and CSF and tissue dynamics toward a combined imaging-based morphologic-physiologic characterization of CMI. Multivariate analysis is employed to identify the subset of parameters that best discriminates CMI from healthy. METHODS: Eleven length and volumetric measures of PCF, including volume, crowdedness, and 4(th) ventricle volume, four measures of CSF and cord motion in the CCJ, and five global intracranial measures, including intracranial compliance and pressure, were measured by MRI in 36 symptomatic CMI subjects (28F, 37±11 years) and 37 control subjects (24F, 36±12 years). The CMI group was further divided based on symptomatology into “typical” and “atypical” subgroups. RESULTS: Ten of the 20 morphologic and physiologic measures were significantly different between the CMI and the control cohorts. These parameters also had less variability and stronger significance in the typical CMI compared with the atypical. The measures with the most significance were clival and supraocciput lengths, PCF crowdedness, normalized PCF volume, 4(th) ventricle volume, maximal cord displacement (p<.001), and MR measure of ICP (p=.007). Multivariate testing identified cord displacement, PCF crowdedness, and normalized PCF as the strongest discriminator subset between CMI and controls. MRICP was higher in the typical CMI cohort compared with the atypical. CONCLUSION: The identified 10 complementing morphologic and physiologic measures provide a more complete and symptomatology relevant characterization of CMI than tonsillar herniation alone

Admission Neutrophil to Lymphocyte Ratio for Predicting Outcome in Subarachnoid Hemorrhage

Purpose: We sought to evaluate the relationship between admission neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and functional outcome in aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH) patients. Material and methods: Consecutive patients with aSAH were treated at two tertiary stroke centers during a five-year period. Functional outcome was defined as discharge modified Rankin score dichotomized at scores 0-2 (good) vs. 3-6 (poor). Results: 474 aSAH patients were evaluated with a mean NLR 8.6 (SD 8.3). In multivariable logistic regression analysis, poor functional outcome was independently associated with higher NLR, older age, poorer clinical status on admission, prehospital statin use, and vasospasm. Increasing NLR analyzed as a continuous variable was independently associated with higher odds of poor functional outcome (OR 1.03, 95%CI 1.001.07, p=0.05) after adjustment for potential confounders. When dichotomized using ROC curve analysis, a threshold NLR value of greater than 6.48 was independently associated with higher odds of poor functional outcome (OR 1.71, 95%CI 1.07-2.74, p=0.03) after adjustment for potential confounders. Conclusions: Higher admission NLR is an independent predictor for poor functional outcome at discharge in aSAH patients. The evaluation of anti-inflammatory targets in the future may allow for improved functional outcome after aSAH