Reduction in mortality from severe head injury following introduction of a protocol for intensive care management

To determine the effect of an intensive care management protocol on the intensive care unit (ICU) and hospital mortality of severely head-injured patients, we designed a longitudinal observational study of all patients admitted with a head injury between 1992 and 2000.

A computerized patient database was used to identify all patients with severe head injury admitted to the ICU at Frenchay Hospital, Bristol, UK: a tertiary referral centre for the clinical neurosciences. We compared the ICU and hospital mortality and length of stay in patients before and after implementation of a protocol for their ICU management in 1997.

Implementation of the protocol was associated with a significant reduction in ICU mortality from 19.95% to 13.5% (odds ratio 0.47; 95% CI 0.29-0.75), and in hospital mortality from 24.55% to 20.8% (odds ratio 0.48; 95% CI 0.31-0.74). This was achieved despite a significant increase in the median APACHE II score (14 vs 18) of patients admitted after implementation of the protocol. The median ICU and hospital length of stay remained constant over the study period.

The introduction of an evidence-based protocol to guide the ICU management of patients with severe head injury has been associated with a significant reduction in both ICU and hospital mortality.