Elevation of the head during intensive care management in people with severe traumatic brain injury.

BACKGROUND: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a major public health problem and a fundamental cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. The burden of TBI disproportionately affects low- and middle-income countries. Intracranial hypertension is the most frequent cause of death and disability in brain-injured people. Special interventions in the intensive care unit are required to minimise factors contributing to secondary brain injury after trauma. Therapeutic positioning of the head (different degrees of head-of-bed elevation (HBE)) has been proposed as a low cost and simple way of preventing secondary brain injury in these people. The aim of this review is to evaluate the evidence related to the clinical effects of different backrest positions of the head on important clinical outcomes or, if unavailable, relevant surrogate outcomes. OBJECTIVES: To assess the clinical and physiological effects of HBE during intensive care management in people with severe TBI. SEARCH METHODS: We searched the following electronic databases from their inception up to March 2017: Cochrane Injuries' Specialised Register, CENTRAL, MEDLINE, Embase, three other databases and two clinical trials registers. The Cochrane Injuries' Information Specialist ran the searches. SELECTION CRITERIA: We selected all randomised controlled trials (RCTs) involving people with TBI who underwent different HBE or backrest positions. Studies may have had a parallel or cross-over design. We included adults and children over two years of age with severe TBI (Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) less than 9). We excluded studies performed in children of less than two years of age because of their unfused skulls. We included any therapeutic HBE including supine (flat) or different degrees of head elevation with or without knee gatch or reverse Trendelenburg applied during the acute management of the TBI. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Two review authors independently checked all titles and abstracts, excluding references that clearly didn't meet all selection criteria, and extracted data from selected studies on to a data extraction form specifically designed for this review. There were no cases of multiple reporting. Each review author independently evaluated risk of bias through assessing sequence generation, allocation concealment, blinding, incomplete outcome data, selective outcome reporting, and other sources of bias. MAIN RESULTS: We included three small studies with a cross-over design, involving a total of 20 participants (11 adults and 9 children), in this review. Our primary outcome was mortality, and there was one death by the time of follow-up 28 days after hospital admission. The trials did not measure the clinical secondary outcomes of quality of life, GCS, and disability. The included studies provided information only for the secondary outcomes intracranial pressure (ICP), cerebral perfusion pressure (CPP), and adverse effects.We were unable to pool the results as the data were either presented in different formats or no numerical data were provided. We included narrative interpretations of the available data.The overall risk of bias of the studies was unclear due to poor reporting of the methods. There was marked inconsistency across studies for the outcome of ICP and small sample sizes or wide confidence intervals for all outcomes. We therefore rated the quality of the evidence as very low for all outcomes and have not included the results of individual studies here. We do not have enough evidence to draw conclusions about the effect of HBE during intensive care management of people with TBI. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: The lack of consistency among studies, scarcity of data and the absence of evidence to show a correlation between physiological measurements such as ICP, CCP and clinical outcomes, mean that we are uncertain about the effects of HBE during intensive care management in people with severe TBI.Well-designed and larger trials that measure long-term clinical outcomes are needed to understand how and when different backrest positions can affect the management of severe TBI.

Prognostic Factors in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Less Than 3 Centimeters: Actuarial Analysis, Accumulative Incidence and Risk Groups.

INTRODUCTION: In TNM classification, factors determining the tumor (T) component in non-small cell lung cancer have scarcely changed over time and are still based solely on anatomical features. Our objective was to study the influence of these and other morphopathological factors on survival. METHODS: A total of 263 patients undergoing lung resection due to stage I non-small cell lung cancer ≤3cm in diameter were studied. A survival analysis and competing-risk estimate study was made on the basis of clinical, surgical and pathological variables using actuarial analysis and accumulative incidence methods, respectively. A risk model was then generated from the results. RESULTS: Survival at 5 and 10 years was 79.8 and 74.3%, respectively. The best prognostic factors were presence of symptoms, smoking habit and FEV1>60%, number of resected nodes>7, squamous histology, absence of vascular invasion, absence of visceral pleural invasion and presence of invasion more proximal than the lobar bronchus. All these were statistically significant according to the actuarial method. The factor "age<50 years" was close to the margin of statistical significance. Pleural invasion and vascular invasion were entered in the multivariate analysis. The competing-risk analysis showed a probability of death due to cancer of 14.3 and 35.1% at 5 and 10 years, respectively. Significant variables in the univariate and multivariate analyses were similar, with the exception of FEV1>60%. CONCLUSIONS: Pleural invasion and vascular invasion determine survival or risk of death due to non-small cell lung cancer ≤3cm and can be used for generating a predictive risk model.

Factores pronóstico en el carcinoma bronquial no microcítico menor de 3 centímetros (análisis actuarial, incidencia acumulativa y grupos de riesgo) / Prognostic factors in non-small cell lung cancer less than 3 centimeters: actuarial analysis, accumulative incidence and risk groups

Introducción: En la clasificación TNM, los factores determinantes del factor T en el carcinoma pulmonar no microcítico apenas han variado con el tiempo y todavía se basan únicamente en características anatómicas. Nuestro objetivo fue estudiar la influencia en la supervivencia de estos y otros factores de tipo morfopatológico. Métodos: Se incluyeron 263 pacientes sometidos a resección pulmonar por carcinoma pulmonar no microcítico en estadio I patológico y diámetro ≤ 3 cm. Se realizó un estudio de supervivencia y de estimación del riesgo competitivo observando variables clínicas, quirúrgicas y patológicas, siguiendo los métodos de análisis actuarial y de incidencia acumulativa, respectivamente. Posteriormente, se creó un modelo de riesgo de acuerdo con los resultados. Resultados: La supervivencia fue de 79,8 y 74,3% a los 5 y 10 años, respectivamente. Los factores con mejor pronóstico, estadísticamente significativo según el método actuarial fueron: presencia de síntomas, hábito tabáquico, FEV1 > 60%, número de ganglios resecados > 7, tipo histológico escamoso, ausencia de invasión vascular, ausencia de invasión pleural visceral y presencia de invasión bronquial lobar proximal. La edad < 50 años rozó la significación estadística. En el análisis multivariante entraron en regresión la invasión pleural visceral y la invasión vascular. El estudio de riesgo competitivo mostró una probabilidad de muerte por cáncer de 14,3 y 35,1% en 5 y 10 años, respectivamente. Las variables significativas en los análisis univariante y multivariante fueron similares excepto el FEV1 > 60%. Conclusiones: La presencia de invasión pleural visceral y la invasión vascular determina la supervivencia o el riesgo de muerte por carcinoma pulmonar no microcítico ≤ 3 cm y permiten elaborar un modelo predictivo de riesgo

Introduction: In TNM classification, factors determining the tumor (T) component in non-small cell lung cancer have scarcely changed over time and are still based solely on anatomical features. Our objective was to study the influence of these and other morphopathological factors on survival. Methods: A total of 263 patients undergoing lung resection due to stage I non-small cell lung cancer ≤ 3 cm in diameter were studied. A survival analysis and competing-risk estimate study was made on the basis of clinical, surgical and pathological variables using actuarial analysis and accumulative incidence methods, respectively. A risk model was then generated from the results Results: Survival at 5 and 10 years was 79.8 and 74.3%, respectively. The best prognostic factors were presence of symptoms, smoking habit and FEV1 > 60%, number of resected nodes > 7, squamous histology, absence of vascular invasion, absence of visceral pleural invasion and presence of invasion more proximal than the lobar bronchus. All these were statistically significant according to the actuarial method. The factor 'age < 50 years' was close to the margin of statistical significance. Pleural invasion and vascular invasion were entered in the multivariate analysis. The competing-risk analysis showed a probability of death due to cancer of 14.3 and 35.1% at 5 and 10 years, respectively. Significant variables in the univariate and multivariate analyses were similar, with the exception of FEV1 > 60%. Conclusions: Pleural invasion and vascular invasion determine survival or risk of death due to non-small cell lung cancer ≤ 3 cm and can be used for generating a predictive risk model