Risk Factors and Neurologic Outcomes in Patients With Traumatic Brain Injury and Coagulopathy Within 72 Hours Post-operatively
Abstract Background There are few studies on the development and effect of coagulopathy in patients with a traumatic brain injury (TBI) during the early post-operative period. We determined the risk factors and neurologic outcomes of in patients with a TBI and coagulopathy diagnosed by routine laboratory tests within 72 hours post-operatively. Methods The baseline characteristics, intra-operative management, and follow-up results of 462 patients with TBIs were obtained and retrospectively analyzed by multivariate logistic regression from January 2015 to June 2019. Coagulopathy was defined as an activated partial thromboplastin time > 40 seconds, international normalized ratio >1.4, or a platelet count < 100×109 /L.Results Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) at the time of admission, Injury Severity Score (ISS) at the time of admission, pupil mydriasis, duration of surgery, intra-operative blood loss, and intra-operative crystalloid resuscitation were independent risk factors for patients who developed a coagulopathy post-operatively. There were statistical differences in mortality (p = 0.049), the Glasgow Outcome Scale-Extended (GCS-E; p = 0.024), and the modified Rankin Scale (p = 0.043) between patients with and without coagulopathy 1 week after surgery. Coagulopathy within 72 h after surgery revealed a trend for higher mortality at 1 week (66.7%), 3 months (71.4%), and 6 months (76.2%). Furthermore, coagulopathy and contusion expansion in the early post-operative period were independent risk factors for TBI mortality after surgery. Intra-operative crystalloid resuscitation had a substantial diagnostic accuracy in predicting coagulopathy within 72 h post-operatively (area under the curve [AUC] = 0.972).Conclusion Coagulopathy within 72 h post-operatively in patients with a TBI predicted worse disease progression and unfavorable neurologic outcomes. Hence, we should take practical and reasonable measures to manage these risk factors, which may protect patients with a TBI from post-operative coagulopathy.