Peri-operative treatment of most severely head-injured patients.
OBJECTIVE
To summarize the peri-operative experience from 53 patients with traumatic head injuries with GCS score 3-5.


METHODS
Fifty-three most severely head-injured patients with GCS score 3-5 were admitted to our department and treated operatively from Oct. 1994 to Jun. 1998 and the data were analyzed retrospectively.


RESULTS
Thirty-seven cases (69.8%) survived, among them 28 (52.8%) had a good recovery or moderate disability, and 9 (17%) had severe deficits. The other 16 (30.2%) died after therapy.


CONCLUSIONS
The prognosis of most severely head-injured patients could be improved by peri-operative treatment including premedical care, early evacuation of intracranial hematoma with large decompressive craniectomies, intracranial hypertension monitoring, moderate hypothermia therapy, effective prevention and treatment of cerebral vasospasm and complications.
Xu
W
W
Department of Neurosurgery, Huashan Hospital, Shanghai Medical University, Shanghai, 200040, China.
Gu
S
S
Pang
L
L
Ji
Y
Y
Zhou
L
L
Gao
L
L
Cao
X
X
Hu
D
D
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D006259:Craniocerebral Trauma / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019990:Perioperative Care