The assessment of consciousness status in primary brainstem hemorrhage (PBH) patients can be achieved by monitoring changes in basic vital signs.

ABSTRACT

The objective of the study was to explore the association between basic vital signs and consciousness status in patients with primary brainstem hemorrhage (PBH). Patients with PBH were categorized into two groups based on Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) scores disturbance of consciousness (DOC) group (GCS=3-8) and non-DOC group (GCS=15). Within DOC group, patients were further divided into behavioral (GCS=4-8) and non-behavioral (GCS=3) subgroups. Basic vital signs, such as body temperature, heart rate, and respiratory rate, were monitored every 3 hours during the acute bleeding phase (1st day) and the bleeding stable phase (7th day) of hospitalization. The findings revealed a negative correlation between body temperature and heart rate with GCS scores in DOC group at both time points. Moreover, basic vital signs were notably higher in the DOC group compared to non-DOC group. Specifically, the non-behavioral subgroup within DOC group exhibited significantly elevated heart rates on the 1st day of hospitalization and moderately increased respiratory rates on the 7th day compared to the control group. Scatter plots illustrated a significant relationship between body temperature and heart rate with consciousness status, while no significant correlation was observed with respiratory rate. In conclusion, the study suggests that monitoring basic vital signs, particularly body temperature and heart rate, can serve as valuable indicators for evaluating consciousness status in PBH patients. These basic vital signs demonstrated variations corresponding to lower GCS scores. Furthermore, integrating basic vital sign monitoring with behavioral assessment could enhance the assessment of consciousness status in PBH patients.