• Accomplishments
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• Research
• Spinal Cord Injury Projects
• Traumatic Brain Injury Projects
  • Assessment & Intervention for Mild TBI
  • Can Eye Movements Predict Persistent Problems in Paediatric Mild TBI?
  • Cognitive Neuroscience of Maladaptive Behaviours in Adolescents with Traumatic Brain Injury
  • DECRA Trial (DECompressive CRAniectomy Trial)
  • Enhancing Neurogenesis Post -TBI
  • Fluid Resuscitation in TBI
  • Headstart: Multi-family Groups for Traumatic Brain Injury
  • Hypothermia in Childhood TBI (HiTBIC)
  • Improving the functional communication ability of adults with TBI
  • In Vivo Hippocampal Studies in Rats
  • Long term consequences of childhood head injury - 15 year follow-up
  • Measuring the Impact of TBI on People's Lives
  • Mobility Following Childhood TBI
  • New Treatments for Brain and Spinal Cord Injuries
  • Neural Basis of Communication Disorder in Children
  • Neurotrauma Tissue/Fluid Bank
  • Normoglycaemia in Intensive Care Traumatic Brain Injury Study (NICE-TBI)
  • Preventing Neuronal Cell Death Following Brain Trauma
  • Prevention and Treatment of Social Problems Following TBI
  • Rehabilitation of Attention Following TBI
  • Role of Tissue Type Plasminogen Activator
  • TBI in Older Adults
  • Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) Treatment in Depression After Traumatic Brain Injury
  • Traumatic Hypoxia and Cerebral Inflammation
  • Virtual Reality and Upper Limb Function Following TBI in Children
• Targeted Initiatives
• Completed TBI and SCI Projects
• Program Grants

Fluid Resuscitation in TBI

Fluid Resuscitation for Patients with Traumatic Brain Injury- Potential Mechanisms Behind the Detrimental Effect of Albumin Resuscitation

Chief Investigator: Professor Jamie Cooper
Other Investigators: Associate Professor John Myburgh, Associate Professor Simon Finfer, Professor Rinaldo Bellomo, Professor Robyn Norton
Lead Organisation: Bayside Health
VNI Funding: $227,700
Project Start Date: 15-Jun-07

Project Summary:
The selection and use of resuscitation fluids is a fundamental aspect of the management of trauma patients. In 1999, a systematic review of fluid therapy in trauma patients suggested that use of crystalloids was associated with a lower mortality. The landmark SAFE study found that administration of 4% albumin (a very commonly used colloid in Australia) was associated with an apparently increased risk of death in patients with trauma and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), when compared with saline (a crystalloid). These effects have been subsequently confirmed in the Victorian Trauma Foundation (VTF) funded post-hoc analysis published in the New England Journal of Medicine in September 2007. The aim of the current study is to determine the mechanisms which caused albumin to be associated with an increased mortality in patients with TBI when compared with normal saline. In particular to determine whether increased brain pressures associated with albumin resuscitation, lead to use of therapies with toxic side effects which may have increased mortality.