Propofol Pretreatment Fails to Provide Neuroprotection Following a Surgically Induced Brain Injury Rat Model.

Neurosurgical procedures are associated with unintentional damage to the brain during surgery, known as surgically induced brain injuries (SBI), which have been implicated in orchestrating structural and neurobehavioral deterioration. Propofol, an established hypnotic anesthetic agent, has been shown to ameliorate neuronal injury when given after injury in a number of experimental brain studies. We tested the hypothesis that propofol pretreatment confers neuroprotection against SBI and will reduce cerebral edema formation and neurobehavioral deficits in our rat population.

Effects of hemodilution after traumatic brain injury in juvenile rats.

Background: Normovolemic hemodilution (HD) in adult animal studies has shown exacerbation of traumatic brain injury (TBI) lesion volumes. Similar studies in juvenile rats have not been reported and outcomes are likely to be different. This study investigated the effects of normovolemic hemodilution (21% hematocrit) in a juvenile TBI (jTBI) model.

3% hypertonic saline following subarachnoid hemorrhage in rats.

Background: Hypertonic saline (HTS) has been proposed as a treatment after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) to minimize ischemic brain injury due to its osmotic and rheologic properties. Although the benefits of 7.2% HTS use in brain injury have been studied, there is a paucity of data on the use of 3%HTS.

p53 may play an orchestrating role in apoptotic cell death after experimental subarachnoid hemorrhage.

Objective: Secondary brain injury after subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) is poorly understood. As a result, there are few treatment options. Consequently, SAH is associated with a high rate of morbidity and mortality.