[Specificities of nursing care in neurological intensive care].

In the acute phase of the treatment of patients with brain injuries, the management of secondary brain injuries of systemic origin is a priority. A neurosurgical intensive care paramedical team shares their experience of the care delivered and the constant monitoring carried out to optimise, with the medical team, the patient's outcome and to innovate practices.

Dynamics of clinical recovery during the early phase of rehabilitation in patients with severe traumatic and non-traumatic brain injury.

Purpose: Our aim was to describe the changes in the functional outcome at the early phase of rehabilitation following severe brain injury and to identify the factors associated with faster recovery.

Methods: This retrospective analysis included 182 patients who were transferred from the intensive care unit (ICU) to a post-ICU neurorehabilitation unit following traumatic brain injury (TBI) (n = 82) or cerebrovascular accident (CVA) (n = 100). Admission, discharge and changes in scores were calculated for the Functional Independent Measurement (FIM) and the Wessex Head Injury Matrix (WHIM).

Mannitol Improves Brain Tissue Oxygenation in a Model of Diffuse Traumatic Brain Injury.

Objectives: Based on evidence supporting a potential relation between posttraumatic brain hypoxia and microcirculatory derangements with cell edema, we investigated the effects of the antiedematous agent mannitol on brain tissue oxygenation in a model of diffuse traumatic brain injury.

Design: Experimental study.

Setting: Neurosciences and physiology laboratories.

Hydrocortisone and fludrocortisone for prevention of hospital-acquired pneumonia in patients with severe traumatic brain injury (Corti-TC): a double-blind, multicentre phase 3, randomised placebo-controlled trial.

Background: Hospital-acquired pneumonia is common after traumatic brain injury, and might be partly a result of traumatic brain injury-induced adrenal insufficiency. We tested the efficacy of low-dose hydrocortisone with fludrocortisone for the prevention of hospital-acquired pneumonia.

Methods: We did this double-blind, phase 3, placebo-controlled trial in 19 intensive care units in France.