Usefulness of intraoperative transcranial sonography in patients with traumatic brain injuries: a comparison with postoperative computed tomography

Abstract

Purpose: The aim of this study was to assess the agreement between intraoperative transcranial sonography (TCS) and postoperative computed tomog¬raphy (CT) in patients with traumatic brain injuries.Methods: We performed a retrospective cross-sectional study of 35 patients who underwent TCS during surgery, among those who presented to a regional trauma center and underwent decompressive craniectomy between January 1, 2017 and April 30, 2020. Results: The mean difference between TCS and CT in measuring the midline shift was –1.33 mm (95% confidence inter¬val, –2.00 to –0.65; intraclass correlation coefficient [ICC], 0.96; P<0.001). An excellent correlation was found between TCS and CT in assessing contralateral subdural hematomas (ICC, 0.96; P<0.001) and focal hematoma lesions (ICC, 0.99; P<0.001). A very good correlation between TCS and CT was found for measurements of ventricle width (ICC, 0.92; P<0.001). Conclusions: TCS during surgery is considered an effective diagnostic tool for the detection of intraoperative parenchymal changes in patients with traumatic brain injuries.