The Relationship Between Vasoactive-Inotropic Score and Mortality in Adult Patients with Traumatic Brain Injury

To assess the feasibility of the vasoactive-inotropic score (VIS) in determining the amount of vasoactive support and its relationship with the mortality rate and characteristics of the patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI).

This study was conducted with a retrospective design involving the years 2013-2018 in a university hospital which provides tertiary intensive care service. A total of 102 patients who were admitted in the ICU with the diagnosis of severe TBI, and also were followed by neurosurgery service and who received vasoactive and inotropic support were analyzed concerning VIS value.

The median age of the patients was 34 years, and 69.6% of the patients were male. Mortality rate was 43.1%. In the group with mean VIS≥10, the admission duration in the ICU and hospital were shorter (p < 0.0001) whereas mortality rates were higher (81.1% vs 21.5% and p < 0.0001). Besides, the number of patients with a VIS score of ≥10, ≥15 and ≥20 were higher in the group of patients who died (p < 0.0001). The results of the multivariate analysis such as VIS≥10 were significant.

We can conclude that VIS, which is used to determine the amount of vasoactive and inotropic medicines during cardiac surgery and in sepsis patients, may be useful in predicting mortality in TBI patients.