First Intracranial Pressure Monitoring or First Operation: Which One Is Better?

For patients with TBI, traditional methods such as clinical examination and imaging data are the primary references used for deciding whether to operate or not. Intracranial pressure (ICP) monitoring based on lateral ventricles or parenchymal pressure is a more direct reflection of ICP. However, the research on whether the outcome results of ICP monitoring are better than results based on clinical signs and imaging is sparse. Therefore, we compared treatment results for patients with TBI based on ICP monitoring and traditional methods.

This retrospective study included patients with TBI admitted to our collaborative hospitals between January 1, 2012, and December 31, 2013. All patients enrolled were divided into a traditional methods group and ICP monitoring group. Follow-up treatment was determined by ICP monitoring value or traditional methods in the 2 groups. Propensity matching scores were used to ensure that baseline characteristics of patients in the 2 groups were consistent.

A significant association was found between the initial ICP value and neurologic deterioration (odds ratio 1.24; P < 0.001), and nonlinear correlation achieved the best fit (R² = 0.547). Both 6-month good recovery rate and favorable outcome rate were higher in the ICP monitoring group than the traditional methods group by propensity score analysis (P < 0.05).

For patients with TBI with cerebral contusion volume >20 mL, both 6-month good recovery rate and favorable outcome rate were significantly higher in the ICP monitoring group than the traditional methods group.