title: Secondary stroke in patients with polytrauma and traumatic brain injury treated in an Intensive Care Unit, Karlovac General Hospital, Croatia.
abstract: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is divided into primary and secondary brain injury. Primary brain injury occurs at the time of injury and is the direct consequence of kinetic energy acting on the brain tissue. Secondary brain injury occurs several hours or days after primary brain injury and is the result of factors including shock, systemic hypotension, hypoxia, hypothermia or hyperthermia, intracranial hypertension, cerebral oedema, intracranial bleeding or inflammation. The aim of this retrospective analysis of a prospective database was to determine the prevalence of secondary stroke and stroke-related mortality, causes of secondary stroke, treatment and length of stay in the ICU and hospital. This study included patients with TBI with or without other injuries who were hospitalised in a general ICU over a five-year period. The following parameters were assessed: demographics (age, sex), scores (Glasgow Coma Score, APACHE II, SOFA), secondary stroke (prevalence, time of occurrence after primary brain injury, causes of stroke and associated mortality), length of stay in the ICU and hospital, vital parameters (state of consciousness, cardiac function, respiration, circulation, thermoregulation, diuresis) and laboratory values (leukocytes, C-reactive protein [CRP], blood glucose, blood gas analysis, urea, creatinine). Medical data were analysed for 306 patients with TBI (median age 56 years, range 18-93 years) who were treated in the general ICU. Secondary stroke occurred in 23 patients (7.5%), 10 of whom died, which gives a mortality rate of 43.4%. Three patients were excluded as the cause of the injury was missile trauma. The study data indicate that inflammation is the most important cause of secondary insults. Levels of CRP were elevated in 65% of patients with secondary brain injury; leukocytosis was present in 87% of these patients, and blood glucose was elevated in 73%. The lungs and urinary tract were the most common sites of infection. In conclusion, elevated inflammatory markers (white blood cell count and CRP) and hyperglycaemia are associated with secondary brain injury. The lack of routine use of intracranial pressure (ICP) monitoring may explain the high mortality rate and the occurrence of secondary stroke in patients with TBI.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anaesthesiology, Reanimatology and Intensive Medicine, Karlovac General Hospital, Andrije Štampara 3, 47000 Karlovac, Croatia.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Belavić
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Karlovac General Hospital, Andrije Štampara 3, 47000 Karlovac, Croatia.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Jančić
authors.affiliation: Department of Anaesthesiology, Reanimatology and Intensive Medicine, Karlovac General Hospital, Andrije Štampara 3, 47000 Karlovac, Croatia.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mišković
authors.affiliation: Department of Anaesthesiology, Reanimatology and Intensive Medicine, Karlovac General Hospital, Andrije Štampara 3, 47000 Karlovac, Croatia.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Brozović-Krijan
authors.affiliation: Orthopaedics and Traumatology Department, Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda, Co. Louth, Ireland.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Bakota
authors.affiliation: Department of Anaesthesiology, Reanimatology and Intensive Medicine, Karlovac General Hospital, Andrije Štampara 3, 47000 Karlovac, Croatia; Karlovac University of Applied Sciences, Trg Josipa Jurja Strossmayera 9, 47000 Karlovac, Croatia. Electronic address: jzvuka@gmail.com.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Žunić
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000378:metabolism / Q000401:mortality / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000378:metabolism; D003422:Critical Care; D017523:Croatia / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D015600:Glasgow Coma Scale; D019983:Guideline Adherence; D006801:Humans; D007362:Intensive Care Units; D019586:Intracranial Hypertension / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology*; D007427:Intracranial Pressure; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008991:Monitoring, Physiologic / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards*; D009104:Multiple Trauma / Q000150:complications / Q000401:mortality / Q000503:physiopathology*; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D020521:Stroke / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality / Q000503:physiopathology*; D015599:Trauma Severity Indices
chemical_list: D002097:C-Reactive Protein
keywords: Cerebral; Intracranial pressure; Mean arterial pressure; Outcome; Perfusion; Secondary; Stroke; Temperature; Traumatic brain injury