Delirium After Traumatic Brain Injury: Prediction by Location and Size of Brain Lesion

Abstract

Objective To examine (1) the location of brain lesion that would predict post-traumatic delirium and (2) the association between volume of brain lesion and occurrence of delirium in patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI). Methods A retrospective study was conducted by reviewing medical records of 68 TBI patients, categorized into two groups: the delirious group (n=38) and non-delirious group (n=30). The location and volume of TBI were investigated with the 3D Slicer software. Results The TBI region in the delirious group mainly involved the frontal or temporal lobe (p=0.038). All 36 delirious patients had brain injury on the right side (p=0.046). The volume of hemorrhage in the delirious group was larger by about 95 mL compared to the non-delirious group, but this difference was not statistically significant (p=0.382). Conclusion Patients with delirium after TBI had significantly different injury site and side, but not lesion size compared to patients without delirium.

Keywords

• traumatic brain injury
• delirium
• intracranial hemorrhages