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[Predictive factors of short-term mortality in patients with severe head injury]
T Rapenne1, F Lenfant, L N'Guyen Kim
1Département d'Anesthésie-Réanimation, Hôpital Général, CHU Dijon.
Objectives:
To define hazard factors of early mortality in severe brain injured patients.
Patients And Methods:
An open prospective study was conducted in 125 brain injured patients with initial Glasgow coma score below 8. Different vital parameters were recorded daily during the first 10 days of resuscitation. Computed tomography (CT) scan classification of the Traumatic Coma Data Bank, the Glasgow coma score, the SAPS score and the influence of neurosurgery were assessed.
Results:
In exclusive parameters analysis, a Glasgow coma score below 6, the presence of a midline shift of more than 5 mm on the initial brain CT scan, high or mixed density lesion of more than 25 cc, as well as mean blood pressure below 90 mm Hg were respectively correlated with early death. Low mean blood pressure led to low brain perfusion pressure in patients with intracranial hypertension.
Conclusion:
We defined 3 independent predictive factors of early mortality: the Glasgow coma scale, CT scan classification and mean blood pressure below 90 mm Hg. The main goal of the resuscitation in severe brain insult patients must be to obtain a sufficient brain perfusion pressure. This often requires the use of vasoactive drugs.