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Published in: Child's Nervous System 4/2008

01-04-2008 | Original Paper

Antipyretic treatment of noninfectious fever in children with severe traumatic brain injury

Authors: Jonathon M. Brown, Yuthana Udomphorn, Pilar Suz, Monica S. Vavilala

Published in: Child's Nervous System | Issue 4/2008

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Abstract

Objective

The purpose of this study was to describe the treatment of noninfectious fever in children with severe traumatic brain injury (TBI).

Materials and methods

We conducted a retrospective study to compare type of and response to antipyretic treatment strategies in children less than or equal to 17 years and Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score less than 9.

Results

The average admission GCS score was 4. Forty children (35 boys, 5 girls), age 7.8 ± 5.2 years, had noninfectious fever. Seventy percent (28 of 40) received acetaminophen only, and 30% (12 of 40) received acetaminophen plus either ibuprofen or physical cooling. Time to next febrile episode was longer in patients receiving combination therapy than those receiving monotherapy (p = 0.03). Fever refractory to treatment dose or strategy occurred in more than 40% of the patients.

Conclusions

Early combination antipyretic therapy may be needed to effectively maintain normothermia in children with severe TBI.
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Metadata
Title
Antipyretic treatment of noninfectious fever in children with severe traumatic brain injury
Authors
Jonathon M. Brown
Yuthana Udomphorn
Pilar Suz
Monica S. Vavilala
Publication date
01-04-2008
Publisher
Springer-Verlag
Published in
Child's Nervous System / Issue 4/2008
Print ISSN: 0256-7040
Electronic ISSN: 1433-0350
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00381-007-0517-0

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