REBOA as a bridge to brain CT in a patient with concomitant brain herniation and haemorrhagic shock - A case report

The management of complex trauma patient with concomitant brain injury and extra-cranial lesions is challenging since the requirement of a low pressure to limit the bleeding clashes with the need to maintain an adequate cerebral perfusion and to obtain a brain CT-scan.Here we present the use of REBOA as a bridge to CT scan in complex head and torso trauma.

A 59 years old male patient involved in a road traffic crash was admitted to our hospital after a car accident. He had a GCS of 3 with a left fixed pupil anisocoria. Despite right-sided chest decompression for pneumothorax and massive transfusion protocol for haemoperitoneum, blood pressure remained low; to temporally stabilize the patient and perform a brain CT scan a zone 1 REBOA was inserted and systolic blood pressure rose up from 60 mmHg to 110 mmHg. A brain CT scan highlighted a right subdural hematoma with a 8-mm midline shift. The patient went to the operating room to perform damage control surgery and, subsequently, a decompressive craniotomy. After 96 days of hospital stay, the patient was discharged at home with a complete neurological recovery.

The achievement of a rapid brain CT scan in traumatic brain injury is often crucial and has a deep impact in changing surgical management; moreover, duration of cerebral herniation is associated with worse outcome and increased mortality.In the light of this, the use of REBOA in selected cases of complex head and torso trauma could allow to gain time to go to the CT room in safe conditions.