Dispersion in Scores on the Richmond Agitation and Sedation Scale as a Measure of Delirium in Patients with Subdural Hematomas.

Background: Delirium is a frequent complication of critical illness, but its diagnosis is more difficult in brain-injured patients due to language impairment and disorders of consciousness. We conducted a prospective cohort study to determine whether Richmond Agitation and Sedation Scale (RASS) scores could be used to reliably diagnose delirium in the setting of brain injury. We also examined clinical factors associated with delirium in patients with subdural hematomas (SDH) and assessed its impact on functional outcome at discharge.

Effect of mannitol on brain metabolism and tissue oxygenation in severe haemorrhagic stroke.

Background: The impact of osmotic therapies on brain metabolism has not been extensively studied in humans. The authors examined if mannitol treatment of raised intracranial pressure will result in an improvement in brain metabolism together with the expected drop in intracranial pressure (ICP).

Methods: This is a retrospective review of prospectively collected data.

Can a simple blood test quantify brain injury?

Despite significant advances in neurocritical care, it remains difficult to precisely measure the extent of neurological injury in patients affected by stroke, trauma, or cardiac arrest. In the intensive care unit the extent of primary and secondary injury often eludes clinicians, making prognostication imprecise and difficult. Derwall and colleagues present their findings on the dynamics of serum S-100B protein levels in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest survivors.