Impact of blunt chest trauma on outcome after traumatic brain injury- a matched-pair analysis of the TraumaRegister DGU®.

BACKGROUND

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is associated with high rates of long-term disability and mortality. Our aim was to investigate the effects of thoracic trauma on the in-hospital course and outcome of patients with TBI.

METHODS

We performed a matched pair analysis of the multicenter trauma database TraumaRegisterDGU® (TR-DGU) in the 5-year period from 2012 to 2016. We included adult patients (≥18 years of age) with moderate to severe TBI (abbreviated injury scale (AIS)= 3-5). Patients with isolated TBI (group 1) were compared to patients with TBI and varying degrees of additional blunt thoracic trauma (AIS= 2-5) (group 2). Matching criteria were gender, age, severity of TBI, initial GCS and presence/absence of shock. The χ-test was used for comparing categorical variables and the Mann-Whitney-U-test was chosen for continuous parameters. Statistical significance was defined by a p-value < 0.05.

RESULTS

A total of 5414 matched pairs (10,828 patients) were included. The presence of additional thoracic injuries in patients with TBI was associated with a longer duration of mechanical ventilation and a prolonged ICU and hospital length of stay. Additional thoracic trauma was also associated with higher mortality rates. These effects were most pronounced in thoracic AIS subgroups 4 and 5. Additional thoracic trauma, regardless of its severity (AIS ≥2) was associated with significantly decreased rates of good neurologic recovery (GOS = 5) after TBI.

CONCLUSIONS

Chest trauma in general, regardless of its initial severity (AIS= 2-5), is associated with decreased chance of good neurologic recovery after TBI. Affected patients should be considered "at risk" and vigilance for the maintenance of optimal neuro-protective measures should be high.