Subclavian central venous catheter-related thrombosis in trauma patients: incidence, risk factors and influence of polyurethane type.

Introduction: The incidence of deep venous thrombosis (DVT) related to a central venous catheter varies considerably in ICUs depending on the population included. The aim of this study was to determine subclavian central venous catheter (SCVC)-related DVT risk factors in severely traumatized patients with regard to two kinds of polyurethane catheters.

Methods: Critically ill trauma patients needing a SCVC for their usual care were prospectively included in an observational study.

Asymmetry of Bispectral Index (BIS) in severe brain-injured patients treated by barbiturates with unilateral or diffuse brain injury.

Objective: Bispectral index (BIS) may be used in traumatic brain-injured patients (TBI) with intractable intracranial hypertension to adjust barbiturate infusion but it is obtained through a unilateral frontal electrode. The objective of this study was to evaluate differences in BIS between hemispheres in two groups: unilateral frontal (UFI) and diffuse (DI) injured.

Patients And Methods: Prospective monocenter observational study in 24 TBI treated with barbiturates: 13 UFI and 11 DI.

The use of bispectral index to monitor barbiturate coma in severely brain-injured patients with refractory intracranial hypertension.

Background: Barbiturate therapy in severely traumatic brain-injured (TBI) patients is usually monitored by an electroencephalogram (EEG) with burst-suppression pattern as a target. The Bispectral Index (BIS) is derived from EEG and considers cortical silence. We sought to determine whether a BIS range could predict a specific burst-suppression pattern.

[Traumatic rupture of the aortic isthmus in a patient with severe head injury].

A 32-year-old man sustained a severe head injury in a road traffic accident. On admission, he was in deep coma (6 on the Glasgow coma scale). The aortic knuckle was difficult to identify on a plain chest film.