Moderate Traumatic Brain Injury:Clinical Characteristics and a Prognostic Model of 12-Month Outcome

BACKGROUND: Patients with moderate traumatic brain injury (TBI) often are studied together with patients with severe TBI, even though the expected outcome of the former is better. Therefore, we aimed to describe patient characteristics and 12-month outcomes, and to develop a prognostic model based on admission data, specifically for patients with moderate TBI. METHODS: Patients with Glasgow Coma Scale scores of 9-13 and age ≥16 years were prospectively enrolled in 2 level I trauma centers in Europe. Glasgow Outcome Scale Extended (GOSE) score was assessed at 12 months. A prognostic model predicting moderate disability or worse (GOSE score ≤6), as opposed to a good recovery, was fitted by penalized regression. Model performance was evaluated by area under the curve of the receiver operating characteristics curves. RESULTS: Of the 395 enrolled patients, 81% had intracranial lesions on head computed tomography, and 71% were admitted to an intensive care unit. At 12 months, 44% were moderately disabled or worse (GOSE score ≤6), whereas 8% were severely disabled and 6% died (GOSE score ≤4). Older age, lower Glasgow Coma Scale score, no day-of-injury alcohol intoxication, presence of a subdural hematoma, occurrence of hypoxia and/or hypotension, and preinjury disability were significant predictors of GOSE score ≤6 (area under the curve = 0.80). CONCLUSIONS: Patients with moderate TBI exhibit characteristics of significant brain injury. Although few patients died or experienced severe disability, 44% did not experience good recovery, indicating that follow-up is needed. The model is a first step in development of prognostic models for moderate TBI that are valid across centers

Traumatic axonal injury intraumatic brain injury: Conventional and advanced MRI fromearly to chronic phase and relation to outcome

<p>Finanseringskilde: Samarbeidsorganet mellom Helse Midt-Norge og NTNU</p

Scandinavian guidelines for initial management of minor and moderate head trauma in children.

Background The management of minor and moderate head trauma in children differs widely between countries. Presently, there are no existing guidelines for management of these children in Scandinavia. The purpose of this study was to produce new evidence-based guidelines for the initial management of head trauma in the paediatric population in Scandinavia. The primary aim was to detect all children in need of neurosurgical intervention. Detection of any traumatic intracranial injury on CT scan was an important secondary aim. Methods General methodology according to the Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation (AGREE) II and the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) system was used. Systematic evidence-based review was performed according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) methodology and based upon relevant clinical questions with respect to patient-important outcomes. Quality ratings of the included studies were performed using Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies (QUADAS)-2 and Centre of Evidence Based Medicine (CEBM)-2 tools. Based upon the results, GRADE recommendations, a guideline, discharge instructions and in-hospital observation instructions were drafted. For elements with low evidence, a modified Delphi process was used for consensus, which included relevant clinical stakeholders. Results The guidelines include criteria for selecting children for CT scans, in-hospital observation or early discharge, and suggestions for monitoring routines and discharge advice for children and guardians. The guidelines separate mild head trauma patients into high-, medium- and low-risk categories, favouring observation for mild, low-risk patients as an attempt to reduce CT scans in children. Conclusions We present new evidence and consensus based Scandinavian Neurotrauma Committee guidelines for initial management of minor and moderate head trauma in children. These guidelines should be validated before extensive clinical use and updated within four years due to rapid development of new diagnostic tools within paediatric neurotrauma

Evaluation of the Scandinavian guidelines for head injuries based on a consecutive series with computed tomography from a Norwegian university hospital

Background: This study prospectively assesses clinical characteristics and management of consecutive minimal, mild and moderate head injury patients referred for CT scans. Compliance with the Scandinavian head injury guidelines and possible reasons for non-compliance is explored. Methods: From January 16th 2006 to January 15th 2007, 1325 computed tomography (CT) examinations due to minimal, mild or moderate head injury according to the Head Injury Severity Scale (HISS) were carried out at our University Hospital. When ordering a CT scan due to head trauma, physicians were asked to fill out a questionnaire. Results: Guideline compliance was impossible to assess in 49.5% of all cases. This was due to non-assessable or missing key variables necessary in the decision making algorithm. One or more key variables for HISS classification were not assessable in 34.4% as it was unknown whether there had been loss of consciousness (LOC), duration of LOC was unknown or it was impossible to assess amnesia or focal neurologic deficits. Definite compliance with both CT and admittance recommendations in guidelines was seen in only 31.2%. In 54.2% of patients with minimal head injuries who underwent CT scans, imaging was not necessary according to guidelines. 59.1% of all patients were admitted to hospital, however only 23.7% of these were admitted because of the head-injury alone. Age < 4 years, possible medical cause of injuries, severe headache/nausea or vomiting and the presence of non-traumatic CT findings were independently associated with non-assessable compliance with Scandinavian guidelines. Suspicion of influence of alcohol was inversely associated to non-compliance. Conclusions: Despite the prospective study design, guideline compliance was not assessable in nearly half of the patients. Patients with isolated head injuries and available and obtainable complete clinical information necessary for guideline-based decision making are not dominating in a head injury population

Treatment of posttraumatic olfactory dysfunction with oral corticosteroids and olfactory training

Background: Few have investigated long-term effect of treatment of posttraumatic olfactory dysfunction (OD). Aims/objectives: To explore if sequential treatment with corticosteroids and olfactory training (OT) improved smell in patients with OD after moderate and severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). Material and methods: Twenty-two patients with persistent OD, mean 62 months after trauma, completed an open uncontrolled intervention study of treatment for 10 d with oral corticosteroids and thereafter for 3 months with OT twice daily. Olfaction was assessed by Sniffin’ Sticks. They were tested at four-time points, with the last assessment 12 months after baseline measurements. Results: Mean age at trauma was 45 (SD 14) years. Mean threshold, discrimination and identification (TDI) score at baseline was 14.4 (SD 7.3) and increased to mean 20.8 (SD 7.4) after 1 year (minimum −3.0; maximum 19.5, p value <.001). Analysed separately, each TDI component increased significantly after 1 year. Half of the patients (11/22) experienced a clinically significant improvement of ≥6.0 TDI points. Improvement was not associated with any sociodemographic or trauma-related characteristics or with olfactory function at baseline. Conclusions and significance: Treatment with corticosteroids and OT was promising in persistent OD after TBI and should be further studied

Acute Diffusion Tensor and Kurtosis Imaging and Outcome following Mild Traumatic Brain Injury

In this prospective cohort study, we investigated associations between acute diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI) metrics and persistent post-concussion symptoms (PPCS) 3 months after mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). Adult patients with mTBI (n = 176) and community controls (n = 78) underwent 3 Tesla magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) within 72 h post-injury, estimation of cognitive reserve at 2 weeks, and PPCS assessment at 3 months. Eight DTI and DKI metrics were examined with Tract-Based Spatial Statistics. Analyses were performed in the total sample in uncomplicated mTBI only (i.e., without lesions on clinical MRI), and with cognitive reserve both controlled for and not. Patients with PPCS (n = 35) had lower fractional anisotropy (in 2.7% of all voxels) and kurtosis fractional anisotropy (in 6.9% of all voxels), and higher radial diffusivity (in 0.3% of all voxels), than patients without PPCS (n = 141). In uncomplicated mTBI, only fractional anisotropy was significantly lower in patients with PPCS. Compared with controls, patients with PPCS had widespread deviations in all diffusion metrics. When including cognitive reserve as a covariate, no significant differences in diffusion metrics between patients with and without PPCS were present, but patients with PPCS still had significantly higher mean, radial, and axial diffusivity than controls. In conclusion, patients who developed PPCS had poorer white matter microstructural integrity acutely after the injury, compared with patients who recovered and healthy controls. Differences became less pronounced when cognitive reserve was controlled for, suggesting that pre-existing individual differences in axonal integrity accounted for some of the observed differences

Moderate traumatic brain injury, acute phase course and deviations in physiological variables: an observational study

Background: Patients with moderate traumatic brain injury (TBI) are a heterogeneous group with great variability in clinical course. Guidelines for monitoring and level of care in the acute phase are lacking. The main aim of this observational study was to describe injury severity and the acute phase course during the first three days post-injury in a cohort of patients with moderate TBI. Deviations from defined parameters in selected physiological variables were also studied, based on guidelines for severe TBI during the same period. Methods: During a 5-year period (2004–2009), 119 patients ≥16 years (median age 47 years, range 16–92) with moderate TBI according to the Head Injury Severity Scale were admitted to a Norwegian level 1 trauma centre. Injury-related and acute phase data were collected prospectively. Deviations in six physiological variables were collected retrospectively. Results: Eighty-six percent of the patients had intracranial pathology on CT scan and 61 % had extracranial injuries. Eighty-four percent of all patients were admitted to intensive care units (ICUs) the first day, and 51 % stayed in ICUs ≥3 days. Patients staying in ICUs ≥3 days had lower median Glasgow Coma Scale score; 12 (range 9–15) versus 13 (range 9–15, P = 0.003) and more often extracranial injuries (77 % versus 42 %, P = 0.001) than patients staying in ICU 0–2 days. Most patients staying in ICUs ≥3 days had at least one episode of hypotension (53 %), hypoxia (57 %), hyperthermia (59 %), anaemia (56 %) and hyperglycaemia (65 %), and the proportion of anaemia related to number of measurements was high (33 %). Conclusion: Most of the moderate TBI patients stayed in an ICU the first day, and half of them stayed in ICUs ≥3 days due to not only intracranial, but also extracranial injuries. Deviations in physiological variables were often seen in this latter group of patients. Lack of guidelines for patients with moderate TBI may leave these deviations uncorrected. We propose that in future research of moderate TBI, patients might be differentiated with regard to their need for monitoring and level of care the first few days post-injury. This could contribute to improvement of acute phase management

Patients with moderate and severe traumatic brain injury: impact of preinjury platelet inhibitor or warfarin treatment

Objective We aimed to examine the effect of preinjury antithrombotic medication on clinical and radiologic neuroworsening in traumatic brain injury (TBI) and study the effect on outcome. Methods A total of 184 consecutive patients ≥50 years old with moderate and severe TBI admitted to a level 1 trauma center were included. Neuroworsening was assessed clinically by using the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score and radiologically by using the Rotterdam CT score on repeated time points. Functional outcome was assessed with the Glasgow Outcome Scale Extended 6 months after injury. Results The platelet inhibitor group (mean age, 77.3 years; n = 43) and the warfarin group (mean age, 73.2 years; n = 20) were significantly older than the nonuser group (mean age, 63.7 years; n = 121; P ≤ 0.001). In the platelet inhibitor group 74% and in the warfarin group, 85% were injured by falls. Platelet inhibitors were not significantly associated with clinical or radiologic neuroworsening (P = 0.37–1.00), whereas warfarin increased the frequency of worsening in GCS score (P = 0.001–0.028) and Rotterdam CT score (P = 0.004). In-hospital mortality was higher in the platelet inhibitor group (28%; P = 0.030) and the warfarin group (50%; P < 0.001) compared with the nonuser group (13%). Platelet inhibitors did not predict mortality or worse outcome after adjustment for age, preinjury disability, GCS score, and Rotterdam CT score, whereas warfarin predicted both mortality and worse outcome. Conclusions In this study of patients with moderate and severe TBI, preinjury platelet inhibitors did not cause neuroworsening or predict higher mortality or worse outcome. In contrast, preinjury warfarin caused neuroworsening and was an independent risk factor for mortality and worse outcome at 6 months. Hence, fall prevention and liberal use of computed tomography examinations is important in this patient group.acceptedVersion© 2018. This is the authors’ accepted and refereed manuscript to the article. Locked until 07.03.2019 due to copyright restrictions. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0

Patients with moderate and severe traumatic brain injury: impact of preinjury platelet inhibitor or warfarin treatment

Objective We aimed to examine the effect of preinjury antithrombotic medication on clinical and radiologic neuroworsening in traumatic brain injury (TBI) and study the effect on outcome. Methods A total of 184 consecutive patients ≥50 years old with moderate and severe TBI admitted to a level 1 trauma center were included. Neuroworsening was assessed clinically by using the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score and radiologically by using the Rotterdam CT score on repeated time points. Functional outcome was assessed with the Glasgow Outcome Scale Extended 6 months after injury. Results The platelet inhibitor group (mean age, 77.3 years; n = 43) and the warfarin group (mean age, 73.2 years; n = 20) were significantly older than the nonuser group (mean age, 63.7 years; n = 121; P ≤ 0.001). In the platelet inhibitor group 74% and in the warfarin group, 85% were injured by falls. Platelet inhibitors were not significantly associated with clinical or radiologic neuroworsening (P = 0.37–1.00), whereas warfarin increased the frequency of worsening in GCS score (P = 0.001–0.028) and Rotterdam CT score (P = 0.004). In-hospital mortality was higher in the platelet inhibitor group (28%; P = 0.030) and the warfarin group (50%; P < 0.001) compared with the nonuser group (13%). Platelet inhibitors did not predict mortality or worse outcome after adjustment for age, preinjury disability, GCS score, and Rotterdam CT score, whereas warfarin predicted both mortality and worse outcome. Conclusions In this study of patients with moderate and severe TBI, preinjury platelet inhibitors did not cause neuroworsening or predict higher mortality or worse outcome. In contrast, preinjury warfarin caused neuroworsening and was an independent risk factor for mortality and worse outcome at 6 months. Hence, fall prevention and liberal use of computed tomography examinations is important in this patient group

Prospective longitudinal MRI study of brain volumes and diffusion changes during the first year after moderate to severe traumatic brain injury

The objectives of this prospective study in 62 moderate–severe TBI patients were to investigate volume change in cortical gray matter (GM), hippocampus, lenticular nucleus, lobar white matter (WM), brainstem and ventricles using a within subject design and repeated MRI in the early phase (1–26 days) and 3 and 12 months postinjury and to assess changes in GM apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) in normal appearing tissue in the cortex, hippocampus and brainstem. The impact of Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score at admission, duration of post-traumatic amnesia (PTA), and diffusion axonal injury (DAI) grade on brain volumes and ADC values over time was assessed. Lastly, we determined if MRI-derived brain volumes from the 3-month scans provided additional, significant predictive value to 12-month outcome classified with the Glasgow Outcome Scale—Extended after adjusting for GCS, PTA and age. Cortical GM loss was rapid, largely finished by 3 months, but the volume reduction was unrelated to GCS score, PTA, or presence of DAI. However, cortical GM volume at 3 months was a significant independent predictor of 12-month outcome. Volume loss in the hippocampus and lenticular nucleus was protracted and statistically significant first at 12 months. Slopes of volume reduction over time for the cortical and subcortical GGM were significantly different. Hippocampal volume loss was most pronounced and rapid in individuals with PTA > 2 weeks. The 3-month volumes of the hippocampus and lentiform nucleus were the best independent predictors of 12-month outcome after adjusting for GCS, PTA and age. In the brainstem, volume loss was significant at both 3 and 12 months. Brainstem volume reduction was associated with lower GCS score and the presence of DAI. Lobar WM volume was significantly decreased first after 12 months. Surprisingly DAI grade had no impact on lobar WM volume. Ventricular dilation developed predominantly during the first 3 months, and was strongly associated with volume changes in the brainstem and cortical GM, but not lobar WM volume. Higher ADC values were detected in the cortex in individuals with severe TBI, DAI and PTA > 2 weeks, from 3 months. There were no associations between ADC values and brain volumes, and ADC values did not predict outcome