Abstract
Background: There are no studies describing the cerebral hemodynamic patterns that can occur in traumatic brain injury (TBI) patients following decompressive craniectomy (DC). Such data have potentially clinical importance for guiding the treatment. The objective of this study was to investigate the postoperative cerebral hemodynamic patterns, using transcranial Doppler (TCD) ultrasonography, in patients who underwent DC. The relationship between the cerebral circulatory patterns and the patients' outcome was also analyzed.Methods: Nineteen TBI patients with uncontrolled brain swelling were prospectively studied. Cerebral blood circulation was evaluated by TCD ultrasonography. Patients and their cerebral hemispheres were categorized based on TCD-hemodynamic patterns. The data were correlated with neurological status, midline shift on CT scan, and Glasgow outcome scale scores at 6 months after injury.Results: Different cerebral hemodynamic patterns were observed. One patient (5.3%) presented with cerebral oligoemia, 4 patients (21%) with cerebral hyperemia, and 3 patients (15.8%) with cerebral vasospasm. One patient (5.3%) had hyperemia in one cerebral hemisphere and vasospasm in the other hemisphere. Ten patients (52.6%) had nonspecific circulatory pattern. Abnormal TCD-circulatory patterns were found in 9 patients (47.4%). There was no association between TCD-cerebral hemodynamic findings and outcome.Conclusion: There is a wide heterogeneity of postoperative cerebral hemodynamic findings among TBI patients who underwent DC, including hemodynamic heterogeneity between their cerebral hemispheres. DC was proved to be effective for the treatment of cerebral oligoemia. Our data support the concept of heterogeneous nature of the pathophysiology of the TBI and suggest that DC as the sole treatment modality is insufficient.
Highlights
Decompressive craniectomy (DC) may effectively decrease intracranial pressure (ICP) and increase cerebral perfusion pressure (CPP) in traumatic brain injury (TBI) patients with refractory elevated ICP [1, 2]
The enrollment criteria were TBI patients presenting with severe brain swelling for whom DC was indicated and in whom preoperative and postoperative Transcranial Doppler (TCD) ultrasonography had been carried out
DC was proved to be effective for the treatment of cerebral oligoemia
Summary
Decompressive craniectomy (DC) may effectively decrease intracranial pressure (ICP) and increase cerebral perfusion pressure (CPP) in traumatic brain injury (TBI) patients with refractory elevated ICP [1, 2]. Transcranial Doppler (TCD) ultrasonography is a noninvasive and bedside method for real-time assessment of cerebral blood circulation. This technique is routinely used in clinical and scientific scenario [5,6,7,8]. There are no studies describing the cerebral hemodynamic patterns that can occur in traumatic brain injury (TBI) patients following decompressive craniectomy (DC). Such data have potentially clinical importance for guiding the treatment. The relationship between the cerebral circulatory patterns and the patients’ outcome was analyzed
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