Causes and risk factors of an unplanned second craniotomy in patients with traumatic brain injury

The risk factors and prediction model for postoperative pneumonia after craniotomy

Background

Craniotomy is highly susceptible to postoperative pneumonia, which significantly impacts the outcomes of patients undergoing such procedures. Our study aims to examine the risk factors associated with postoperative pneumonia and establish a predictive model with a nomogram to assess this risk.

Methods

We conducted a matched 1:1 case-control study involving 831 adult patients undergoing craniotomy at our hospital. Cases consisted of patients who developed postoperative pneumonia within 30 days after surgery, as defined by consensus criteria. Controls were randomly selected from a pool of eligible patients.

Results

The overall incidence rate of postoperative pneumonia is 12.39% in a total of 831 surgeries, which associated with unfavorable outcomes. Gram-negative bacteria were found to be the most common causative agents and approximately 27.94% of cases attributed to multi-drug resistant strains. The logistic regression analysis revealed five independent risk factors, as follows: smoking history, surgical duration, postoperative albumin, unplanned re-operation, and deep vein catheterization. A risk prediction model was derived and a nomogram was constructed. The Hosmer-Lemeshow test yielded X2 = 3.871 (P=0.869), and the receiver operator characteristic curve analysis demonstrated an area under the curve of 0.898 (P<0.05), with a sensitivity of 79.6% and a specificity of 85.4%, indicating excellent model fit and predictive performance. In addition, the C-index of the nomogram model was 0.898(95%CI, 0.853~0.941). The calibration curves of the nomogram model showed p-values of 0.797 and the Brier scores were 0.127. The analysis of the clinical decision curve showed that the nomograph model had high clinical application value.

Conclusions

Postoperative pneumonia patients after craniotomy exhibits distinct pathogen distribution and is strongly associated with unfavorable outcomes. The risk prediction model developed in this study demonstrates a good fitting degree and predictive performance. The constructed nomogram model is objective, specific, and easily applicable in clinical practice.

Aqueous Grown Quantum Dots with Robust Near-Infrared Fluorescence for Integrated Traumatic Brain Injury Diagnosis and Surgical Monitoring

Surgical intervention is the most common first-line treatment for severe traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) associated with high intracranial pressure, while the complexity of these surgical procedures often results in complications. Surgeons often struggle to comprehensively evaluate the TBI status, making it difficult to select the optimal intervention strategy. Here, we introduce a fluorescence imaging-based technology that uses high-quality silver indium selenide-based quantum dots (QDs) for integrated TBI diagnosis and surgical guidance. These engineered, poly(ethylene glycol)-capped QDs emit in the near-infrared region, are resistant to phagocytosis, and importantly, are ultrastable after the epitaxial growth of an aluminum-doped zinc sulfide shell in the aqueous phase that renders the QDs resistant to long-term light irradiation and complex physiological environments. We found that intravenous injection of QDs enabled both the precise diagnosis of TBI in a mouse model and, more importantly, the comprehensive evaluation of the TBI status before, during, and after an operation to distinguish intracranial from superficial hemorrhages, provide real-time monitoring of the secondary hemorrhage, and guide the decision making on the evacuation of intracranial hematomas. This QD-based diagnostic and monitoring system could ultimately complement existing clinical tools for treating TBI, which may help surgeons improve patient outcomes and avoid unnecessary procedures.

Incidence, risk factors, and clinical outcomes of acute brain swelling associated with traumatic acute subdural hematoma: a retrospective study utilizing novel diagnostic criteria

Background

Post-traumatic acute brain swelling (ABS) is a major cause of elevated intracranial pressure and thus mortality. The current definition of post-traumatic ABS has certain limitations, and there is limited information available regarding ABS associated with traumatic acute subdural hematoma (ASDH).

Objectives

To investigate the incidence, risk factors, and clinical outcomes of ABS associated with traumatic ASDH.

Design

Retrospective study.

Methods

Data for 161 patients diagnosed with traumatic ASDH were retrospectively collected. Novel computed tomography-based criteria were proposed for diagnosing ABS in patients with ASDH and determining its incidence. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to explore the risk factors of post-traumatic ABS. The Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS) score, mortality, and functional prognosis of all patients at discharge and the proportion of intraoperative malignant brain bulge in surgical patients were taken as clinical outcome measures.

Results

A total of 45 (28%) patients experienced post-traumatic ABS, exhibiting significantly lower Glasgow Coma Scale scores on admission (p < 0.001). The incidence of hemispheric and whole-brain swelling was 8.1% and 19.9%, respectively. Risk factors independently associated with post-traumatic ABS were: (1) age [odds ratio (OR) = 0.917, p < 0.001]; (2) platelet to white blood cell ratio (PWR) (OR = 0.887, p = 0.012); and (3) traumatic subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) (OR = 4.346, p = 0.005). The ABS cohort had a lower GOS score [2 (1-3) versus 4 (3-5); p < 0.001], higher mortality (46.7% versus 6.9%; p < 0.001), and higher proportion of unfavorable functional prognosis (75.6% versus 34.5%; p < 0.001) upon discharge compared to the no ABS cohort, along with higher proportion of intraoperative malignant brain bulge (43.8% versus 0%; p < 0.001).

Conclusion

The incidence of ABS associated with ASDH is significantly high overall. Patients with ASDH who have young age, low PWR, and traumatic SAH are at an increased risk of developing post-traumatic ABS, and therefore of poor clinical outcomes.