Clinical characteristics and outcomes of traumatic brain injury patients admitted to tertiary level surgical intensive care unit of Kashmir, India

Abstract

Background: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a leading cause of mortality, morbidity, disability, and socioeconomic losses in the Indian subcontinent. For policy making, there is a lack of reliable and larger data regarding traumatic brain injuries in our setting. Aim: In our study an attempt was made to analyze and assess the clinical characteristics of patients with traumatic brain injuries admitted in Surgical Intensive Care Unit of SMHS hospital Srinagar. Materials and Methods: In this observational study, 89 patients of TBI admitted in SICU during study period were enrolled, after obtaining ethical clearance from institutional ethical clearancecommittee. All the study patients were followed up in SICU on daily basis. All thedata required for study was recorded from the patient’s clinical notes as per studyprotocol. Outcome of patients was assessed in terms of survival at discharge from SICU. Results: Majority of the TBI patients requiring ICU admission had Severe TBI (64%). Allthe patients required CT Brain on arrival to hospital and brain contusions (65.2%) were the most common findings on CT brain. Check CT brain was required in53.9% of patients. There was need for neurosurgical intervention in 49.4% ofpatients and 21.3% required blood transfusions.