Clinical research on dysautonomia after severe traumatic brain injury

Abstract

Objective To investigate the incidence, clinical symptoms, correlative risk factors and prognosis of dysautonomia in patients with severe traumatic brain injury. Methods A total of 142patients with severe traumatic brain injury treated from January 2008 to March 2010 were retrospectively surveyed to compare the clinical features of dysautonomia group and control group. Logistic regression was used to analyze the risk factors for dysautonomia. At 6 months post-trauma, the Glasgow Outcome Score (GOS) was used to measure the outcome. Results Of all the patients, 94 patients survived and were followed up. There were 16 patients ( 17% ) diagnosed as dysautonomia depended on clinical symptoms,with statistical difference in aspects of GCS, coma duration, ICU time and average length of stay (ALOS)(P < 0.05). The patients with dysautonomia tended to have poorer outcome ( P < 0.05 ) and showed a positive association with diffuse axonal injury (DAI) ( OR = 11. 25, CI 7.65-16.54 ). Conclusion Dysautonomia has high incidence and is usually severe in patients with severe traumatic brain injury,when DAI may contribute to its occurrence and result in poor prognosis. Key words: Craniocerebral trauma; Diffuse axonal injury; Dysautonomia