Association between vasopressor use and mortality in patients with severe traumatic brain injury: a nationwide retrospective cohort study in Japan

Aim Vasopressors are frequently incorporated into severe traumatic brain injury management algorithms. However, evidence regarding their clinical effectiveness is lacking. We undertook a nationwide retrospective cohort study to determine the association between vasopressor use and mortality in patients with severe traumatic brain injury. Methods Data were collected between January 2004 and December 2018 from the Japanese Trauma Data Bank, which includes data from 272 emergency hospitals in Japan. Adults aged 16 years and over with severe traumatic brain injury but without major extracranial injuries were examined. A severe traumatic brain injury was defined based on a Glasgow Coma Scale score of 3–8 on admission. Multivariable analysis and propensity score matching were carried out. Statistical significance was assessed using 95% confidence intervals. Results In total, 10,295 patients were eligible for analysis, with 654 included in the vasopressor group and 9,641 included in the nonvasopressor group. The proportion of deaths at hospital discharge was higher in the vasopressor group than in the nonvasopressor group (81.80% [535/654] versus 40.24% [3,880/9,641]). This finding was confirmed in a multivariable logistic regression analysis (adjusted odds ratio, 5.37; 95% confidence interval, 4.23–6.81). Among propensity score‐matched patients adjusted for severity, the proportion of deaths at hospital discharge remained higher in the vasopressor group than in the nonvasopressor group (81.87% [533/651] versus 56.22% [366/651]) (odds ratio, 3.52; 95% confidence interval, 2.73–4.53). Conclusion The study results suggest that vasopressor use in patients with severe isolated traumatic brain injury is associated with a higher mortality at hospital discharge.