Hyperglycemia and Glasgow Coma Scale in Pediatric Traumatic Brain Injury in the Emergency Room

Introduction: A high blood glucose is common in actually ill neurological patients, even in nondiabetics. A consensus regarding the cut-off blood glucose level that would be related to poor prognosis in children and adolescent with head trauma, which makes the comparison of different studies important. Objective: Prevalence of acute hyperglycemia and Glasgow coma scale (GCS) in Pediatric Traumatic brain injury in the Emergency Room. Method: Prospective cross-sectional study of pediatric head injury patients in the emergency room during one year period. The cut-off value of 150 mg/dL to define hyperglycemia was considered. Results: A total of 440 children were included and 65 had admission hyperglycemia. Hyperglycemia was present in 11% of mild head trauma cases; 35% of those with moderate head trauma and 54% of severe head trauma. In this study, observed that among children with higher blood glucose levels, 83% had abnormal findings on cranial computed tomography scans. The prevalence of hyperglycemia is higher in patients with severe head trauma, as well as in those with abnormal findings on CCT scans. Conclusion: Hyperglycemia was more prevalent in severe head trauma (GCS 8), regardless of etiology of trauma, mode of injury or multiple trauma in children with abnormal findings on head computed tomography scans.