Head Injury and Pregnancy-Does the Outcome Differ? A Descriptive Analysis of 15 Years from a Single Tertiary Care Center.

Background: There are conflicting data about the outcome of head injury in pregnant patients. Since they comprise a small proportion of the traumatic brain-injured (TBI) patients, the literature is sparse on true evidence on this issue.

Methods: A 15-year observational study to analyze the outcome of TBI in pregnant women admitted to a level 1 trauma center from 2005-2020 was carried out with the approval of institutional review board.

Hyponatremia in Traumatic Brain Injury: A Practical Management Protocol.

Background: Hyponatremia (defined as serum sodium <135 mEq/L) is the most common electrolyte abnormality in traumatic brain injury (TBI) and is also an independent predictor of poor neurologic outcome. The reported incidence of hyponatremia varies widely in literature reports, and there is continuing difficulty in clearly differentiating between the 2 common causes of hyponatremia with natriuresis: the syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone secretion (SIADH) and cerebral salt wasting (CSW). We encounter hyponatremia frequently in our practice, and we therefore decided to review data from our center to estimate the incidence of hyponatremia and the results of our management strategies, and attempt to formulate simple guidelines for the correction of hyponatremia in TBI.

Neurogenic Pulmonary Edema in Traumatic Brain Injury.

A 29-year-old male admitted with severe traumatic brain injury following a road traffic accident was sedated and ventilated uneventfully for 72 h. On the fourth posttrauma day, after stopping sedation to assess readiness for extubation, he developed sudden onset desaturation; arterial blood gas showed severe diffusion defect with very low PaO/FiO ratio following an episode of generalized tonic-clonic seizure. The differential diagnoses and further management are discussed.

Hyperemia Causing Delayed Recovery in Traumatic Brain Injury.

Subarachnoid hemorrhage is a common manifestation of traumatic brain injury. A clinical deterioration in Glasgow Coma Scale score without an accompanying radiological worsening is suggestive of vasospasm. However, hyperemia could be another possibility which can easily be considered with corroborating transcranial Doppler (TCD) features.