Study of certain easily available biochemical markers in prognostication in severe traumatic brain injury requiring surgery

This study aimed to identify easily available prognostic factors in severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) patients undergoing craniotomy. We retrospectively analyzed the clinical characteristics (age, sex, Glasgow coma scale score, cause of TBI, and oral antithrombotic drug use), laboratory parameters (hemoglobin, sodium, C-reactive protein, D-dimer, activated partial thromboplastin time, prothrombin time-international normalized ratio, and glucose-potassium [GP] ratio), and neuroradiological findings of 132 patients who underwent craniotomy for severe TBI in our hospital between January 2015 and December 2021. The patients were divided into two groups: Those with fatal clinical outcomes and those with non-fatal clinical outcomes, and compared between the two groups. The patients comprised 79 (59.8%) male and 53 (40.2%) female patients. Their mean age was 67 ± 17 years (range, 16–94 years). Computed tomography revealed acute subdural hematoma in 108 (81.8%) patients, acute epidural hematoma in 31 (23.5%), traumatic brain contusion in 39 (29.5%), and traumatic subarachnoid hemorrhage in 62 (47.0%). All 132 patients underwent craniotomy, and 41 eventually died. There were significant differences in the D-dimer, GP ratio, and optic nerve sheath diameter between the groups (all P < 0.01). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed elevated GP ratio and D-dimer were associated with the death group (P < 0.01, P < 0.01, respectively). A GP ratio of >42 was the optimal cutoff value for the prediction of a fatal outcome of TBI (sensitivity, 85.4%; specificity, 51.1%). The GP ratio and D-dimer were significantly associated with poor outcomes of TBI. A GP ratio of >42 could be a predictor of a fatal outcome of TBI.