Incidence of trauma induced coagulopathy in patients with isolated traumatic brain injury: A preliminary study

Introduction: Trauma induced coagulopathy (TIC) is an entity. But incidence and outcome of TIC in isolated head injury is not very clear. Therefore, we planned a preliminary prospective observational study to findout incidence of coagulopathy in patients with isolated moderate and severe head injury. Methods: Twenty patients having moderate to severe head injury were included in this study. Severity of head injury is rated according to GCS and Marshall scoring system. Coagulation profile of patients is noted at the time of admission to Trauma ICU and at 24, 48 and 72 hours after injury. Results: Out of 20 cases of head injury, in 8 cases (40%) atleast 2 readings of INR were above 1.4 and PTI below 65%. Out of these 8 cases, 3 patients had GCS score 3, 4 patients had GCS score of 5 and 1 patient had GCS 9. Three out of these 8 patients had intraventricular hemorrhage while midline shift in CT was observed in all the 8 cases. Conclusion: Early identification and treatment of coagulopathy in brain injury patients may prevent secondary insult to brain decreasing morbidity and mortality. A prospective study with an adequate sample size population can identify the true incidence and outcome of patients with isolated head injury having TIC.