The Impact of Time from Diagnosis to Operating Room on Functional Outcomes in Patients with Traumatic Brain Injury: A Retrospective Study.

This study compares the functional outcomes of post-traumatic neurosurgical patients who underwent surgery within 4 h of diagnosis with those who underwent surgery >4 h after diagnosis. A retrospective analysis was conducted on patients who underwent traumatic neurosurgery at Sakon Nakhon Hospital between 2018 and 2024. The study included 164 patients, divided into two groups of 82 patients each. Group 1 underwent surgery within 4 h of diagnosis, while Group 2 underwent surgery after 4 h. The Glasgow Outcome Scale-Extended scores at 3 months post-operatively were significantly more favorable in Group 1 compared with Group 2 ( = 0.011). Additionally, the Barthel Index at 1 month and 3 months post-operatively was significantly higher in Group 1 ( = 0.044, 0.007, respectively). The findings suggest that early surgical intervention within 4 h of diagnosis leads to better functional outcomes in patients with traumatic brain injury.