Schiefecker, Alois J., Rass, Verena, Gaasch, Maxime, Kofler, Mario, Thomé, Claudius, Humpel, Christian, Ianosi, Bogdan, Hackl, Werner O., Beer, Ronny, Pfausler, Bettina, Schmutzhard, Erich, and Helbok, Raimund
In patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH), increased brain extracellular interleukin (IL)-6 levels measured by cerebral microdialysis (CMD) were associated with disease severity, early brain injury, delayed cerebral infarction, and axonal injury. In this study, we analyzed brain extracellular IL-6 levels of aSAH patients following parenteral diclofenac. Twenty-four mechanically ventilated poor-grade aSAH patients were included. Changes in cerebral metabolism, brain/body temperature, and CMD-IL-6 levels following intravenous diclofenac infusion (DCF; 75 mg diluted in 100 cc normal saline) were retrospectively analyzed from prospectively collected bedside data (at 1 hour before DCF = baseline; and at 2, 4, and 8 hours after DCF). Statistical analysis was performed using generalized estimating equations. Seventy-two events in 24 aSAH patients were analyzed. Median age was 60 years (interquartile range [IQR]: 52–67), admission Hunt & Hess grade was 4 (IQR: 3–5), and modified Fisher grade (mFisher) was 4 (IQR: 3–4). Higher CMD-IL-6 levels at baseline were linked to fever, higher mFisher, delayed cerebral infarction, and metabolic distress (p< 0.05). CMD-IL-6 levels at baseline were 281.4 pg/mL (IQR: 47–1866) and significantly (p< 0.001; Wald-X2= 106) decreased at 2 hours to 86.3 pg/mL (IQR: 7–1946), at 4 hours to 40.9 pg/mL (IQR: 4–1237), and at 8 hours to 53.5 pg/mL (IQR: 5–1085), independent of probe location or day after bleeding. Parenteral diclofenac may attenuate brain extracellular proinflammatory response in poor-grade aSAH patients.