BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) is the most fatal and disabling stroke subtype. Widely used tools for prediction of mortality are fundamentally limited in that they do not account for effects of withdrawal of care and are not designed to predict functional recovery. We developed an acute clinical score to predict likelihood of functional independence. METHODS We prospect...

Background Guidelines recommend that brain trauma patients with a Glasgow Coma Scale score <9 should have an airway established. Also, SpO2 >90%, systolic blood pressure >90 mmHg and end-tidal CO2 between 4.5 and 5.3 kPa is advised [1]. The objectives were to investigate guideline adherence, reasons for non-adherence and the incidences of complications related to pre-hospital advanced airway ma...

EEG spectral analyses were conducted from 19 scalp locations for patients with mild (n=40), moderate (n=25), and severe (n=43) traumatic brain injury (TBI), 15 days to 4 years after injury. Severity of TBI was judged by emergency hospital admission records (Glasgow Coma Score and duration of coma and amnesia). Highest-loading EEG variables on each factor that differed significantly between seve...

Methods Retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data from the trauma registry at St. Olavs University Hospital, Norway in the period from 1st Jan 2004 to 31st Dec 2006. Patients with a Glasgow Coma Score (GCS) < 9 either prehospital or in the emergency department were selcted for further analysis. Pre-hospital recordings of vital signs, i.e. GCS, systolic blood pressure (sBT), respira...

INTRODUCTION In blunt trauma, comatose patients (Glasgow Coma Scale score 3 to 8) with a negative comprehensive cervical spine (CS) computed tomography assessment and no apparent spinal deficit, CS clearance strategies (magnetic resonance imaging [MRI] and prolonged cervical collar use) are controversial. METHODS We conducted a literature review to delineate risks for coma, CS instability, pr...

BACKGROUND Pyrexia is a physiological response through which the immune system responds to infectious processes. Hyperpyrexia is known to be neurodegenerative leading to brain damage. Some of the neurotoxic effects of hyperpyrexia on the brain include seizures, decreased cognitive speed, mental status changes, coma, and even death. In the clinical management of hyperpyrexia, the goal is to trea...

OBJECTIVE To assess the effect of the mode of transportation of trauma patients (emergency medical service [EMS] vs. non-EMS) on their final clinical outcome in terms of mortality and length of hospital stay. MATERIALS AND METHODS A retrospective study included all patients who were involved in motor vehicle crashes, and who were transferred immediately to an emergency department of a trauma ...

BACKGROUND There is controversy about which children with minor head injury need to undergo computed tomography (CT). We aimed to develop a highly sensitive clinical decision rule for the use of CT in children with minor head injury. METHODS For this multicentre cohort study, we enrolled consecutive children with blunt head trauma presenting with a score of 13-15 on the Glasgow Coma Scale and...

Background Acute encephalitis syndrome (AES) is a common cause of coma in Nepali children. The Glasgow coma scale (GCS) is used to assess the level of coma in these patients and predict outcome. Alternative coma scales may have better inter-rater reliability and prognostic value in encephalitis in Nepali children, but this has not been studied. The Adelaide coma scale (ACS), Blantyre coma scale...

OBJECTIVE To identify specific factors that can be used to predict functional outcome and to assess the value of decompressive craniectomy in patients with acute subdural haematoma. METHODS The retrospective study was done at the Zonguldak Karaelwas University Practice and Research Hospital, Turkey, and included 34 trauma patients who had undergone decompressive craniectomy for acute subdural...