Persons with anemia may have a poorer outcome after experiencing a traumatic brain injury (TBI) than those who are not anemic, according to recent research.
The study, which appeared recently in World Neurosurgery, was conducted among 939 patients with anemia who experienced a TBI and were admitted to the Frank L. Mitchell Jr, MD, Trauma Center. The Level I Trauma Center is part of MU Health Care.
The researchers compared the patients’ hemoglobin levels and their outcomes within 1 years of surgery, according to a media release from University of Missouri-Columbia.
Despite also having more severe head and systemic injuries, patients with lower levels of hemoglobin had a poor outcome. For each increase in hemoglobin of 1 gram above 7 grams per deciliter of blood, the likelihood of a good outcome increased by 33%, per the release.
“The purpose of this study is not to propose transfusion guidelines, but rather to show that anemia can be harmful to patients with traumatic brain injuries,” says Litofsky says N. Scott Litofsky, MD, chief of the MU School of Medicine’s Division of Neurological Surgery and lead author of the study, in the release.
“Now that we have shown that anemia affects a patient’s recovery, further studies are needed to determine the best way to correct it. The ultimate goal of this research is to help patients recover more quickly from traumatic brain injuries.”
[Source(s): University of Missouri-Columbia, Science Daily]
