Abstract
The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of ulinastatin on cerebral oxygen metabolism and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels in patients with severe traumatic brain injury (sTBI). A total of 92 patients with sTBI, admitted to the First Affiliated Hospital of Xinxiang Medical University (Xinxiang, China), were randomly divided into control and observation groups. The control group received conventional therapy plus a placebo (0.9% sodium chloride), while the observation group were administered conventional therapy plus 200,000 units ulinastatin via intravenous injection twice a day for seven days. Arterial and jugular venous blood was collected for blood gas analysis. The jugular venous blood lactate (JVBL), jugular venous bulb oxygen saturation (SjvO2), arteriovenous oxygen content difference (AVDO2) and cerebral extraction of oxygen (CEO2) levels were measured on day 1, 3, 5 and 7, as well as the level of CRP in the peripheral blood. In the control group, the level of JVBL decreased as compared with the level at day 1, however, no statistically significant differences were observed (P>0.05). By contrast, the observation group exhibited a significant reduction in the level of JVBL (P<0.05), which was also significantly lower compared with the control group (P<0.05). Statistically significant differences were observed between the two groups with regard to SjvO2, AVDO2 and CEO2 on day 3, 5 and 7. The CRP levels in the two groups increased and peaked on day 3. However, the CRP level in the observation group significantly decreased on day 5 (35.27±15.18 mg/l) and day 7 (22.65±10.48 mg/l), which was lower compared with the control group (56.19±13.24 mg/l and 47.36±15.73 mg/l, respectively); statistically significant differences were observed (P<0.05). Therefore, ulinastatin effectively improved cerebral oxygen metabolism and reduced the CRP level in patients with sTBI.
Highlights
The balance between cerebral oxygen supply and demand is necessary for the brain to maintain normal physiological activity
The C‐reactive protein (CRP) level in the observation group significantly decreased on day 5 (35.27±15.18 mg/l) and day 7 (22.65±10.48 mg/l), which was lower compared with the control group (56.19±13.24 mg/l and 47.36±15.73 mg/l, respectively); statistically significant differences were observed (P
Since the cerebral oxygen metabolism indicators, including jugular venous blood lactate (JVBL), SjvO2, AVDO2 and CEO2, reflect the state of cerebral microcirculation and oxygen supply‐demand, monitoring the associated indicators is an effective method for the early detection of cerebral ischemia and hypoxia [9]
Summary
The balance between cerebral oxygen supply and demand is necessary for the brain to maintain normal physiological activity. Patients with severe traumatic brain injury (sTBI) exhibit serious cerebral oxygen metabolism dysfunction at an early stage, which is a leading cause of mortality. CRP has been reported to be a sensitive indicator that reflects cerebral trauma severity [4]. It has been reported that ulinastatin exhibits cerebral protective effects and may inhibit the release of inflammatory mediators, there is limited research on the use of ulinastatin in the treatment for sTBI [5].
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