The Role of the Glucose Potassium Ratio in the Management of Traumatic Brain Injury
Joaquín Ignacio Marini, Matías Emmanuel Sein
Abstract
Objective: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) has become a worldwide public health issue, raising concerns about which tool might be useful to guide initial management at hospital admission, especially to decide whether the patient would benefit from an opportune surgical intervention. Recently, the glucose-to-potassium ratio has more accurate predictive values than other biomarkers and is useful for its simplicity to obtain. To correlate each biomarker with the outcome for every patient with TBI. Methods: The analysis included patients treated in a single institution between 2020 and 2021, diagnosed with mild TBI that required neurosurgery, moderate or severe TBI. Blood samples were obtained at admission, and the glucose-to-potassium ratio was calculated retrospectively. Then, these values and other variables were compared with the outcome at 6 and 12 months. Extracranial lesions that directly contributed to the outcome, a Glasgow Coma Scale of 3 and below, hemodynamic instability, and cardiac arrest were exclusion criteria. Results: =0.04; odds ratio, 8.61; 95% confidence interval, 1.07-69.6). Conclusion: An increase in the glucose-to-potassium ratio was the only biomarker associated with poor outcomes and increased mortality.