Fever in Patients with Brain Injury during Admission in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU)

Short Communication

English

Abdulbassit Alshallwi1, Khalid Almesmari 2, Abdulmonsf Alaokli 3, Farag Zgogo2

1-Department of Surgery 2-Department of Anesthesia 3-Department of Neurology Faculty of Medicine, Omar Al Mukhtar University Derna, Libya

JMJ 2010, Vol.10, No.2:144-146

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the incidence of fever during the ICU admission in patients with brain injury. Design: A prospective study. Subjects: Seventy four patients with brain injury. Methods: Patients were evaluated for the presence of fever during the ICU admission. Demographics, time since injury, hospital stay, brain injury and clinical characteristics were recorded for all subjects. Results: 36 patients (36/74, 48.6%) had at least 1 event qualified as fever. The most common causes of fever were respiratory tract infection, followed by urinary tract infection. There were only two patients considered as having central fever. Fever was significantly more frequent in patients with more severe neurological impairments and a lower level of independence. The ICU admission was prolonged in patients with fever and the average length of hospital stay was a week longer in patients with fever as compared with the afebrile group. Conclusion: Infection is the most common cause of fever after brain injury and the incidence of central fever is low.

Keywords: Fever, Brain injury, Intensive care unit (ICU)

Link/DOI: http://www.jmj.org.ly/images/stories/summer2010/144.pdf