Injury
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Multicenter Study Observational Study
Decompressive craniectomy as a second/third-tier intervention in traumatic brain injury: A multicenter observational study.
RESCUEicp studied decompressive craniectomy (DC) applied as third-tier option in severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) patients in a randomized controlled setting and demonstrated a decrease in mortality with similar rates of favorable outcome in the DC group compared to the medical management group. In many centers, DC is being used in combination with other second/third-tier therapies. The aim of the present study is to investigate outcomes from DC in a prospective non-RCT context. ⋯ Outcomes in DC patients from two prospective cohorts reflecting everyday practice were better than in RESCUEicp surgical patients. Mortality was similar, but fewer patients remained vegetative or severely disabled and more patients had a good recovery. Although patients were older and injury severity was lower, a potential partial explanation may be in the pragmatic use of DC in combination with other second/third-tier therapies in real-life cohorts. The findings underscore that DC maintains an important role in managing severe TBI.