Hyperosmolar salt solution in treatment of cerebral edema after severe craniocerebral injury

Clinical data of 93 patients with severe craniocerebral injury admitted in the Emergency Intensive Care Unit (EICU) of the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University from September 2016 to September 2018 were retrospectively analyzed. Forty six patients received 10% hypertonic salt solution 60 ml (hypertonic salt group) and 47 patients received 20% mannitol 125 ml (mannitol group) for relieving early postoperation cerebral edema. The changes of intracranial pressure, central venous pressure, heart rate, mean arterial pressure (MAP), urine volume and serum sodium level at 2, 4 and 6 h after dehydrating agents were compared between two groups. There were no significant differences in the intracranial pressure, central venous pressure, heart rate and urine volume between two groups at 2, 4 and 6 h after the first dehydration treatment (all P>0.05). The MAP values of the two groups were (88±11) and (80±10), (85±10) and (78±9), (79±12) and (73±13) mmHg (1 mmHg=0.133 kPa) at 2, 4 and 6 h after the first dehydration treatment; and the serum sodium levels were (145±5) and (136±4), (144±6) and (133±5), (140±5) and (135±4) mmol/L, respectively. There were significant differences between two groups (all P<0.05). It is suggested that hypertonic salt can reduce intracranial pressure and increase cerebral perfusion better than mannitol in severe craniocerebral injury. Key words: Craniocerebral trauma; Intracranial hypertension; Saline solution, hypertonic; Comparative effectiveness research