Intracranial Pressure Monitoring in Patients with Traumatic Head Injuries in Kerman Bahonar Hospital: A Short Report

Although intracranial pressure (ICP) monitoring is considered as the standard care for traumatic brain injuries، it is not routinely used in Iran. Hence، the purpose of this study is to reveal the primary results of the applying ICP monitoring in patients with traumatic head injuries in Bahonar Hospital in Kerman. The present study is a cross-sectional one in which all the patients with traumatic brain injuries referred to this given center and received the ICP monitoring were evaluated. We examined the clinical and imaging findings at admission as well as mortality and the complications related to the ICP catheter. The outcome was assessed according to the Glascow Outcome Scale (GOS) at six months after occuring trauma. The data were analyzed using t-test for quantitative variables and Chi-square test for categorical ones. Eighteen patients with traumatic brain injury were undergone ICP monitoring during this time. Eight operations were performed on 6 patients based on their ICP. All the three patients with refractory high ICP died during hospital admission. Higher primary GCS and reactive pupil، were related to the better GOS scores six months after trauma. It seems that ICP monitoring is a safe and effective treatment modality in patients with traumatic brain injury. However، it is necessary to conduct more studies with a large sample size and control group.