The Management of Patients with Intradural Post-Traumatic Mass Lesions: A Multicenter Survey of Current Approaches to Surgical Management in 729 Patients Coordinated by the European Brain Injury Consortium

Neurosurgery ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 57 (6) ◽  
pp. 1183-1192 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Compagnone ◽  
Gordon D. Murray ◽  
Graham M. Teasdale ◽  
Andrew I.R. Maas ◽  
Domenico Esposito ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Head Injury ◽  
Intracranial Pressure ◽  
Surgical Management ◽  
Decompressive Craniectomy ◽  
Mass Lesion ◽  
Raised Intracranial Pressure ◽  
Delayed Surgery ◽  
Head Injured ◽  
Mass Lesions ◽  
Injured Patients

Abstract OBJECTIVE: Controversy exists about the indications and timing for surgery in head injured patients with an intradural mass lesion. The aim of this study was to survey contemporary approaches to the treatment of head injured patients with an intradural lesion, placing a particular focus on the utilization of decompressive craniectomy. METHODS: A prospective international survey was conducted over a 3-month period in 67 centers from 24 countries on the neurosurgical management of head injured patients with an intradural mass lesion and/or radiological signs of raised intracranial pressure. Information was obtained about demographic, clinical, and radiological features; surgical management, and mortality at discharge. RESULTS: Over the period of the study, data were collected about 729 patients consecutively admitted to one of the participating centers. The survey included 397 patients with a severe head injury (Glasgow Coma Scale [GCS] 3–8), 155 with a moderate head injury (GCS 9–12) and 143 patients with a mild head injury (GCS 13–15). An operation was performed on 502 patients (69%). Emergency surgery (<24 h) was most frequently performed for patients with an extracerebral mass lesions (subdural hematomas) whereas delayed surgery was most frequently performed for an intracerebral hematoma or contusion. Decompressive craniectomy was performed in a substantial number of patients, either during an emergency procedure (n = 134, 33%) or a delayed procedure (n = 47, 31%). The decompressive procedure was nearly always combined with evacuation of a mass lesion. The size of the decompression was however considered too small in 25% of cases. CONCLUSION: The results provide a contemporary picture of neurosurgical surgical approaches to the management of head injured patients with an intradural mass lesion and/or signs of raised intracranial pressure in some Neurosurgical Units across the world. The relative benefits of early versus delayed surgery in patients with intraparenchymal lesions and on the indications, technique and benefits of decompressive craniectomy could be topics for future head injury research.

scholarly journals Initial intracranial pressure as a prognosticator in head-injured patients undergoing decompressive craniectomy

Oncotarget ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (38) ◽  
pp. 62657-62663 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hua Liu ◽  
Rong Xu ◽  
Jian Yang ◽  
Guanghui Ren ◽  
Shengxue He
Keyword(s):  
Intracranial Pressure ◽  
Decompressive Craniectomy ◽  
Head Injured ◽  
Injured Patients

Flaccidity after Head Injury

Neurosurgery ◽  
1981 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 242-248 ◽  
Author(s):  
John F. Butterworth ◽  
John B. Selhorst ◽  
Richard P. Greenberg ◽  
Douglas Miller ◽  
Steven K. Gudeman
Keyword(s):  
Head Injury ◽  
High Serum ◽  
Respiratory Complications ◽  
Intracranial Mass ◽  
Cord Injury ◽  
Head Injured ◽  
Spinal Subdural Hematoma ◽  
Mass Lesions ◽  
Injured Patients ◽  
Prompt Diagnosis

Abstract Upon admission, 17 of 223 (8%) consecutive patients with severe head injury exhibited a flaccid, wholly unresponsive motor examination. In this study alcoholic intoxication neither caused depressed motor responsiveness in head-injured patients with high serum ethanol levels nor accounted for the motor examination in those exhibiting the flaccid state. Flaccidity was attributed principally to impaired ventilation in 4 patients, a major intracranial mass in 12. and a spinal cord injury in 1. Compared to the larger group of head-injured patients, the flaccid patients had a significantly greater incidence of hypercapnia (P < 0.001), acidosis (P < 0.01), and both elevated and uncontrollable intracranial pressure (ICP) (P< 0.001). These findings and the high mortality rate (76%) in this study suggest that the magnitude of respiratory complications and the severity of mechanical brain injury are greater in flaccid patients. The flaccid patients undergoing surgical decompression for major intracranial mass lesions (11 cases) have all died and. although still small in number, this group may represent an important subset with a poor prognosis. Nonetheless, a protocol that encourages rapid radiological and electrophysiological assessment and vigorous surgical and ICP management until the probable cause of flaccidity is identified and treated has benefit. The flaccid state was reversed and a good recovery was attained after the restoration of blood pressure and/or ventilation in 2 patients who appeared to have sustained a very grave head injury. In another patient, absent somatosensory evoked potentials greatly facilitated the diagnosis of a spinal subdural hematoma. This program of prompt diagnosis and intense therapy did not result in a protracted course or undue numbers of severely braindamaged survivors.

Prognostic implications of early multimodality evoked potentials in severely head-injured patients

1981 ◽  
Vol 55 (2) ◽  
pp. 227-236 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard P. Greenberg ◽  
Pauline G. Newlon ◽  
Marti S. Hyatt ◽  
Raj K. Narayan ◽  
Donald P. Becker
Keyword(s):  
Patient Outcome ◽  
Head Injury ◽  
Evoked Potentials ◽  
Grade Group ◽  
Systemic Complications ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Head Injured ◽  
Multimodality Evoked Potentials ◽  
Mass Lesions ◽  
Injured Patients

✓ Results of multimodality evoked potential (MEP) studies recorded from 100 comatose patients soon after severe head injury were analyzed prospectively, using a previously established grading system, to assess the prognostic value of MEP's with respect to patient outcome, to evaluate the effect of clinically relevant sequelae of head injury on the prediction of outcome by MEP's, and to describe time to clinical recovery as a function of initial MEP grade. Graded MEP's, when recorded in the first few days after head injury, could predict patient outcome at 1 year with approximately 80% accuracy. Exclusion from the analysis of patients who died from causes unrelated to the brain and those with severe systemic complications that occurred after the evoked potentials were recorded improved the accuracy of outcome prediction to nearly 100%. The presence of a mass lesion requiring surgery reduces the probability of good to moderate outcome for a given MEP grade group by approximately 25% to 40% from that seen in patients without mass lesions. The clinical outcome predicted shortly after head injury by MEP grades may not be realized for many months. Patients with mild MEP abnormality (Grade I or II) generally reach their outcome by 3 to 6 months, whereas those with more severe deficits (Grade III) may not show improvement for at least 1 year.

Effect of stable xenon inhalation on intracranial pressure during measurement of cerebral blood flow in head injury

1994 ◽  
Vol 81 (6) ◽  
pp. 822-828 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Plougmann ◽  
Jens Astrup ◽  
Jens Pedersen ◽  
Carsten Gyldensted
Keyword(s):  
Blood Flow ◽  
Cerebral Blood Flow ◽  
Head Injury ◽  
Intracranial Pressure ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Head Injured ◽  
Stable Xenon ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Injured Patients ◽  
Fine Print

✓ Xenon-enhanced computerized tomography (CT) is well suited for measurements of cerebral blood flow (CBF) in head-injured patients. Previous studies indicated divergent results on whether inhalation of xenon may cause a clinically relevant increase in intracranial pressure (ICP). The authors employed Xe-enhanced CT/CBF measurements to study the effect of 20 minutes of inhalation of 33% xenon in oxygen on ICP, cerebral perfusion pressure (CPP), and arteriovenous oxygen difference (AVDO2) in 13 patients 3 days (mean 1 to 5 days) after severe head injury (Glasgow Coma Scale score ≤ 7). The patients were moderately hyperventilated (mean PaCO2 4.3 kPa or 32.3 mm Hg). Six patients were studied before and during additional hyperventilation. All 13 patients reacted with an increase in ICP and 11 with a decrease in CPP. The mean ICP increment was 6.9 ± 7.7 (range 2 to 17 mm Hg). The mean CPP decrement was −9.7 ± −14.6 (range 17 to 47 mm Hg). The time course of the ICP changes indicated that ICP increased rapidly during the first 5 to 6 minutes, then declined to a plateau (peak-plateau type in four of 13 patients), remained at a plateau (plateau type in six of 13), or continued to increase in three of 13, indicating individual variance in xenon reactivity. Additional hyperventilation had no effect on the xenon-induced increments in ICP but these occurred at lower ICP and higher CPP baseline levels. The AVDO2 values, an index of flow in relation to metabolism, indicated a complex effect of xenon on CBF as well as on metabolism. This study indicates that xenon inhalation for Xe-CT CBF measurements in head-injured patients according to our protocol causes clinically significant increments in ICP and decrements in CPP. It is suggested that the effect of xenon is analogous to anesthesia induction. Individual variations were observed indicating possible individual tolerance, possible influence of type and extent of the cerebral injury, disturbances in cerebrovascular reactivity, and possible influence of medication. These effects of xenon suggest that hyperventilation should be ensured in patients with evidence of reduced compliance or high ICP. On the other hand, inhalation of stable xenon is not believed to pose a risk because no signs of cerebral oligemia or ischemia were indicated in the AVDO2 values.

scholarly journals EFFECT OF 30° HEAD-UP POSITION ON INTRACRANIAL PRESSURE CHANGE IN PATIENTS WITH HEAD INJURY IN SURGICAL WARD OF GENERAL HOSPITAL OF Dr. R. SOEDARSONO PASURUAN

2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 89-95 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sumirah Budi Pertami ◽  
Sulastyawati Sulastyawati ◽  
Puthut Anami
Keyword(s):  
Mean Arterial Pressure ◽  
Head Injury ◽  
Intracranial Pressure ◽  
Arterial Pressure ◽  
Control Group ◽  
P Value ◽  
Increased Intracranial Pressure ◽  
Head Injured ◽  
Injured Patients ◽  
The Impact

Background: Head-injured patients have traditionally been maintained in the head-up position to ameliorate the effects of increased intracranial pressure (ICP). However, it has been reported that the 15 degrees head-up position may improve cerebral perfusion pressure (CPP) and outcome. We sought to determine the impact of 30 and 15 degrees on intracranial pressure change.Methods: This was a quasi-experimental study with posttest only control time series time design.  There were 30 head-injured patients was selected using consecutive sampling, with 15 assigned in the treatment (30° head-up position) and control group (15° head-up position). Intracranial pressure variable was identified using the level of consciousness and mean arterial pressure parameters. Wilcoxon signed rank test was used for data analysisResults: Findings showed p-value 0.010 (0.05) on awareness level and p-value 0.031 (0.05) on mean arterial pressure, which indicated that there was a statistically significant effect of the 30° head-up position on level of awareness and mean arterial pressure.Conclusion: There was a significant effect of the 30° head-up position on intracranial pressure changes, particularly in the level of awareness and mean arterial pressure in patients with head injury. It is recommended that for health workers to provide knowledge regarding this intervention to prevent increased intracranial pressure.

Interhemispheric hygroma after decompressive craniectomy: does it predict posttraumatic hydrocephalus?

2010 ◽  
Vol 113 (6) ◽  
pp. 1287-1293 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ariel Kaen ◽  
Luis Jimenez-Roldan ◽  
Rafael Alday ◽  
Pedro A. Gomez ◽  
Alfonso Lagares ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Head Injury ◽  
Decompressive Craniectomy ◽  
Severe Head Injury ◽  
Fluid Collection ◽  
Receiver Operator Characteristic ◽  
Radiological Features ◽  
Frontal Horn ◽  
Head Injured ◽  
Injured Patients ◽  
The Relationship

Object The aim of this study was to determine the incidence of posttraumatic hydrocephalus in severely head-injured patients who required decompressive craniectomy (DC). Additional objectives were to determine the relationship between hydrocephalus and several clinical and radiological features, with special attention to subdural hygromas as a sign of distortion of the CSF circulation. Methods The authors conducted a retrospective study of 73 patients with severe head injury who required DC. The patients were admitted to the authors' department between January 2000 and January 2006. Posttraumatic hydrocephalus was defined as: 1) modified frontal horn index greater than 33%, and 2) the presence of Gudeman CT criteria. Hygromas were diagnosed based on subdural fluid collection and classified according to location of the craniectomy. Results Hydrocephalus was diagnosed in 20 patients (27.4%). After uni- and multivariate analysis, the presence of interhemispheric hygromas (IHHs) was the only independent prognostic factor for development of posttraumatic hydrocephalus (p < 0.0001). More than 80% of patients with IHHs developed hydrocephalus within the first 50 days of undergoing DC. In all cases the presence of hygromas preceded the diagnosis of hydrocephalus. The IHH predicts the development of hydrocephalus after DC with 94% sensitivity and 96% specificity. The presence of an IHH showed an area under the receiver-operator characteristic of 0.951 (95% CI 0.87–1.00; p < 0.0001). Conclusions Hydrocephalus was observed in 27.4% of the patients with severe traumatic brain injury who required DC. The presence of IHHs was a predictive radiological sign of hydrocephalus development within the first 6 months of DC in patients with severe head injury.

scholarly journals Does Teleradiology Improve Inter-hospital Management of Head-Injury?

1997 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 235-239 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Head Injury ◽  
Adverse Events ◽  
Hospital Management ◽  
District General Hospital ◽  
Therapeutic Interventions ◽  
Head Injured ◽  
Hospital Transfer ◽  
Group 2 ◽  
Injured Patients ◽  
Group 1

ABSTRACT:Objective:In many countries, neurosurgical care is concentrated in regional centres, which often necessitates the inter-hospital transfer of patients with head injury for optimal treatment. The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of teleradiology in the management of head-injured patients when referred from a district general hospital to a tertiary neurosurgical centre.Methods:Prospective data were collected over a fifteen month period from March '95 to May '96. Head-injured patients referred without the facility of teleradiology (Group 1), were compared to similar patients referred with teleradiologie images (Group 2), with particular regard to therapeutic intervention before transfer and adverse events during transfer.Results:There were 28 patients in Group 1 and 35 in Group 2, of which 31 were transferred. Both groups were comparable with respect to age, admission Glasgow Coma Scale score, and intracranial pathology. For patients transferred with teleradiology consultation (Group 2), therapeutic interventions were more (32.1% vs. 10.7%, p = 0.06), adverse events during transfer were significantly lower (6.4% vs. 32.1%, p = 0.01), and transfer time was reduced (72 vs. 80 minutes, p = 0.38). Four patients in Group 2 were treated by a mobile neurosurgical team at the referring hospital because of rapid clinical deterioration.Conclusion:Our findings indicate that teleradiology has an important role in improving inter-hospital management of head-injured patients.

Impairment of helper T-cell function and lymphokineactivated killer cytotoxicity following severe head injury

1991 ◽  
Vol 75 (5) ◽  
pp. 766-773 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keith B. Quattrocchi ◽  
Edmund H. Frank ◽  
Claramae H. Miller ◽  
Asim Amin ◽  
Bernardo W. Issel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
T Cell ◽  
Head Injury ◽  
Severe Head Injury ◽  
Cell Cytotoxicity ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Lak Cell ◽  
Head Injured ◽  
Injured Patients ◽  
Fine Print

✓ Infection is a major complication of severe head injury, occurring in 50% to 75% of patients who survive to hospitalization. Previous investigations of immune activity following head injury have demonstrated suppression of helper T-cell activation. In this study, the in vitro production of interferon-gamma (INF-γ), interleukin-1 (IL-1), and interleukin-2 (IL-2) was determined in 25 head-injured patients following incubation of peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL's) with the lymphocyte mitogen phytohemagglutinin (PHA). In order to elucidate the functional status of cellular cytotoxicity, lymphokine-activated killer (LAK) cell cytotoxicity assays were performed both prior to and following incubation of PBL's with IL-2 in five patients with severe head injury. The production of INF-γ and IL-2 by PHA-stimulated PBL's was maximally depressed within 24 hours of injury (p < 0.001 for INF-γ, p = 0.035 for IL-2) and partially normalized within 21 days of injury. There was no change in the production of IL-1. When comparing the in vitro LAK cell cytotoxicity of PBL's from head-injured patients and normal subjects, there was a significant depression in LAK cell cytotoxicity both prior to (p = 0.010) and following (p < 0.001) incubation of PBL's with IL-2. The results of this study indicate that IL-2 and INF-γ production, normally required for inducing cell-mediated immunity, is suppressed following severe head injury. The failure of IL-2 to enhance LAK cell cytotoxicity suggests that factors other than decreased IL-2 production, such as inhibitory soluble mediators or suppressor lymphocytes, may be responsible for the reduction in cellular immune activity following severe head injury. These findings may have significant implications in designing clinical studies aimed at reducing the incidence of infection following severe head injury.

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