• Donald E G Griesdale, Jonathan McEwen, Tobias Kurth, and Dean R Chittock.
• Department of Anesthesiology, University of British Columbia & Program of Critical Care Medicine, Vancouver General Hospital, Vancouver BC, Canada.
• Can J Neurol Sci. 2010 Jan 1;37(1):43-8.

PurposeTo determine our institutional adherence to the Brain Trauma Foundation guidelines with respect to intracranial pressure (ICP) monitoring, and examine the relationship between external ventricular drain (EVD) use and mortality.Materials & MethodsRetrospective cohort study of 171 patients with severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). Propensity score adjusted logistic regression was used to model the association between EVD use and mortality.ResultsEVDs were inserted in 98 of 171 patients. Of the 73 patients without an EVD, 63 (86%) would have qualified for ICP monitoring under the current guidelines. EVDs were in situ for a median of 8 days (SD 6). In adjusted analyses, EVD use was associated with hospital mortality (OR 2.8, 95% CI: 1.1 - 7.1, p = 0.04) and 28-day mortality (OR 2.1, 95% CI: 0.80 - 5.6, p = 0.13). We observed significant modification of the association between EVD and 28-day mortality by GCS within 12 hours (p-interaction = 0.04), indicating strong association only among those patients with GCS score of at least 6 (OR 5.0, 95% CI: 1.5 - 16.7, p < 0.01).ConclusionsThe association of EVD with 28-day mortality was only apparent among patients with GCS score of > or = 6. Further research is warranted to further refine which patients may benefit from ICP monitoring.

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