Optic nerve sheath diameter for neurological prognosis in critically ill patients without primary brain injury / 中华急诊医学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To explore the predictive value of bedside ultrasound monitoring of optic nerve sheath diameter (ONSD) for short-term neurological prognosis in critically ill patients without primary brain injury.Methods:An observational prospective study was conducted to enroll critically ill patients without primary brain injury admitted to the emergency intensive care unit (ICU) of Cangzhou Central Hospital from January 2021 to April 2022. The exclusion criteria were as follows: age < 18, combined ocular and optic nerve pathology or injuries, impaired consciousness due to prior neuropathy, primary brain injury, ICU stay < 3 days, death or loss of follow-up within 28 days. Bedside ultrasound measurements of ONSD were performed within 24 hours of ICU admission and on day 3 of ICU admission. The consciousness status was assessed daily during ICU hospitalization. If the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) is 15 and the confusion assessment method intensive care unit (CAM-ICU) is negative, the consciousness status will be defined as nonconsciousness disorder. While if the GCS score is less than 15 or the CAM-ICU is positive, the consciousness status will be defined as consciousness disorder. According to the status of consciousness at 28 days, patients were divided into a nonconscious disorder group and a conscious disorder group, and the difference in each index was compared between the two groups. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression were used to analyze the factors influencing 28-day neurological function prognosis, and a Kaplan?Meier survival curve was plotted to analyze the relationship between ONSD and 28-day neurological function prognosis.Results:Sixty-one critically ill patients without primary brain injury (48 in the nonconscious disorder group and 13 in the conscious disorder group) were recruited. Compared to patients in the unconscious disorder group, those in the conscious disorder group had lower GCS upon ICU admission [7(4, 8) vs. 8(6, 14), P<0.05], longer length of mechanical ventilation (MV) [28(15, 28) days vs. 10(4, 14) days, P<0.001], and longer length of ICU stay [28(28, 28) days vs. 12(7, 20) days, P<0.001]. Patients in the conscious disorder group had a higher ONSD within 24 hours of ICU admission [(5.75±0.53) mm vs. (5.45±0.60) mm, P=0.114] and a higher ONSD 3 days after ICU admission [(5.54±0.64) mm vs. (5.22±0.65) mm, P=0.124] than patients in the unconscious disorder group, but the differences were not statistically significant. Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that use of MV, GCS upon ICU admission and ONSD on day 3 of ICU admission were independent risk factors. Kaplan?Meier survival analysis showed that patients with an ONSD < 5.30 mm on day 3 had a better 28-day neurological prognosis. Moreover, among the patients with ONSD within 24 hours ≥5.30 mm, the patients with ONSD decreased to < 5.30 mm on day 3 had significantly better 28-day neurological prognosis than those with ONSD ≥ 5.30 mm on day 3 ( P=0.042). Conclusions:ONSD within 24 hours of ICU admission, especially ONSD levels and changes in ONSD on day 3, had predictive value for the short-term neurological prognosis of critically ill patients without primary brain injury.