Neurologic Outcomes with Cerebral Oxygen Monitoring in Traumatic Brain Injury

Background Optimizing cerebral oxygenation is advocated to improve outcome in head-injured patients. The purpose of this study was to compare outcomes in brain-injured patients treated with 2 types of monitors. Methods Patients with traumatic brain injury and a Glasgow Coma Scale score Results Over a 3-year period, 145 patients were entered into the study; 81 patients in the Licox group and 64 patients in the Camino group. Mortality, hospital length of stay, and ICU length of stay were equivalent in the 2 groups. More patients in the Licox group achieved a moderate/recovered GOS at 3 months than in the Camino Group (79% vs 61%; P = .09). Conclusion Three-month GOS revealed a clinically meaningful 18% benefit in patients undergoing cerebral oxygen monitoring and optimization. Six-month outcomes were also better. Unfortunately, these important differences did not reach significance. Continued study of the benefits of cerebral oxygen monitoring is warranted.