Evaluation of Blood Urea, Creatinine, and Glucose Levels as Biochemical Indicators of the Type and Severity of Traumatic Brain Injury

Turk Neurosurg. 2021;31(3):333-338. doi: 10.5137/1019-5149.JTN.29843-20.2.

Abstract

Aim: To investigate the effects of trauma type and survival on biochemical parameters including blood urea, creatinine, and glucose levels on patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI).

Material and methods: The medical records of 102 patients with TBIs who were admitted to the emergency department and/ or hospitalized in the neurosurgery department between 2016 and 2019 were examined retrospectively.

Results: Types of trauma included: 19 cases of subarachnoid hemorrhage, 25 cases of subdural hemorrhage, 9 cases of epidural hemorrhage, 28 cases of intracerebral hemorrhage, 4 cases of multiple hemorrhage, and 12 cases with other hemorrhages. We examined the effects of trauma type and survival on a total of 17 blood test parameters, but only three (blood urea, creatinine, and glucose) showed significance for the overall model, meaning that either trauma type or survival or an interaction between the two had significant effects on these three blood parameters.

Conclusion: Our findings imply that the risk of fatality due to TBI might be deduced from observation of the patient?s blood urea and glucose levels as these two parameters differed significantly in fatal versus surviving cases. Blood urea and creatinine levels were different for different trauma types and may be useful in distinguishing the type of injury.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Biomarkers / blood*
  • Blood Glucose / analysis*
  • Brain Injuries, Traumatic / blood*
  • Creatinine / blood*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Retrospective Studies
  • Urea / blood*

Substances

  • Biomarkers
  • Blood Glucose
  • Urea
  • Creatinine