Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 17, 2026
Controlled Cortical Impact Model for Traumatic Brain Injury
Published on: August 5, 2014
Intensive insulin therapy in severe traumatic brain injury: a randomized trial
Ariane Coester1, Cristina Rolim Neumann, Maria Inês Schmidt
1Programa de Pós-graduação em Epidemiologia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul and Hospital de Pronto Socorro de Porto Alegre, Prefeitura Municipal de Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil. arianecoester@yahoo.com.br
Background:
Intensive insulin therapy (IIT) has been shown to reduce morbidity and mortality in critically ill patients. Little investigation has been done to find out whether it improves the prognosis of patients with severe traumatic brain injury (STBI).
Methods:
We conducted a prospective controlled study where adult patients with blunt STBI, with Glasgow Coma Scale
Results:
Of the 88 patients randomized, 42 were assigned to IIT and 46 to CGT. There was no difference (p = 0.63) in neurologic outcomes between the treatment groups: Glasgow outcome scale >3 was observed in 16 patients (41%) in the IIT and in 13 patients (32.5%) in the CGT group. More patients in the IIT group had hypoglycemia: 32 (82.1%), compared with 7 (17.5%) in the CGT group (p < 0.001). There were no differences in the number of days spent in the ICU (18.2 +/- 27.6 vs. 12.9 +/- 12.7) or in the sepsis rates (84.6% vs. 80%) between the groups.
Conclusion:
In our study, IIT did not improve the neurologic outcome of patients with STBI but did increase the risk of hypoglycemia compared with CGT.
