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Objectives: Acute kidney injury is frequent in polytrauma patients, and it is associated with increased mortality and extended hospital length of stay. However, the specific prevalence of acute kidney injury after traumatic brain injury is less recognized. The present study aims to describe the occurrence rate, risk factors, timing, and association with outcome of acute kidney injury in a large cohort of traumatic brain injury patients., Design: The Collaborative European NeuroTrauma Effectiveness Research in Traumatic Brain Injury is a multicenter, prospective observational, longitudinal, cohort study., Setting: Sixty-five ICUs across Europe., Patients: For the present study, we selected 4,509 traumatic brain injury patients with an ICU length of stay greater than 72 hours and with at least two serum creatinine values during the first 7 days of ICU stay., Measurements and Main Results: We classified acute kidney injury in three stages according to the Kidney Disease Improving Global Outcome criteria: acute kidney injury stage 1 equals to serum creatinine × 1.5-1.9 times from baseline or an increase greater than or equal to 0.3 mg/dL in 48 hours; acute kidney injury stage 2 equals to serum creatinine × 2-2.9 times baseline; acute kidney injury stage 3 equals to serum creatinine × three times baseline or greater than or equal to 4 mg/dL or need for renal replacement therapy. Standard reporting techniques were used to report incidences. A multivariable Cox regression analysis was performed to model the cause-specific hazard of acute kidney injury and its association with the long-term outcome. We included a total of 1,262 patients. The occurrence rate of acute kidney injury during the first week was as follows: acute kidney injury stage 1 equals to 8% (n = 100), acute kidney injury stage 2 equals to 1% (n = 14), and acute kidney injury stage 3 equals to 3% (n = 36). Acute kidney injury occurred early after ICU admission, with a median of 2 days (interquartile range 1-4 d). Renal history (hazard ratio = 2.48; 95% CI, 1.39-4.43; p = 0.002), insulin-dependent diabetes (hazard ratio = 2.52; 95% CI, 1.22-5.197; p = 0.012), hypernatremia (hazard ratio = 1.88; 95% CI, 1.31-2.71; p = 0.001), and osmotic therapy administration (hazard ratio = 2.08; 95% CI, 1.45-2.99; p < 0.001) were significantly associated with the risk of developing acute kidney injury. Acute kidney injury was also associated with an increased ICU length of stay and with a higher probability of 6 months unfavorable Extended Glasgow Outcome Scale and mortality., Conclusions: Acute kidney injury after traumatic brain injury is an early phenomenon, affecting about one in 10 patients. Its occurrence negatively impacts mortality and neurologic outcome at 6 months. Osmotic therapy use during ICU stay could be a modifiable risk factor., Competing Interests: Dr. Meyfroidt’s institution received funding from Research Foundation, Flanders, KULeuven Research Grant (C2), and Codman; he received funding from other consulting and advisory boards. Dr. Citerio is Editor-in-Chief of Intensive Care Medicine, and he reports grants, personal fees as Speakers’ Bureau Member and Advisory Board Member from Integra and Neuroptics; personal fees from Nestle and UCB Pharma, all outside of the submitted work. The remaining authors have disclosed that they do not have any potential conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2020 by the Society of Critical Care Medicine and Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

Background: No large prospective data, to our knowledge, are available on ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) in patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI)., Research Question: To evaluate the incidence, timing, and risk factors of VAP after TBI and its effect on patient outcome., Study Design and Methods: This analysis is of the Collaborative European NeuroTrauma Effectiveness Research in Traumatic Brain Injury data set, from a large, multicenter, prospective, observational study including patients with TBI admitted to European ICUs, receiving mechanical ventilation for ≥ 48 hours and with an ICU length of stay (LOS) ≥ 72 hours. Characteristics of patients with VAP vs characteristics of patients without VAP were compared, and outcome was assessed at 6 months after injury by using the Glasgow Outcome Scale Extended., Results: The study included 962 patients: 196 (20.4%) developed a VAP at a median interval of 5 days (interquartile range [IQR], 3-7 days) after intubation. Patients who developed VAP were younger (median age, 39.5 [IQR, 25-55] years vs 51 [IQR, 30-66] years; P < .001), with a higher incidence of alcohol abuse (36.6% vs 27.6%; P = .026) and drug abuse (10.1% vs 4.2%; P = .009), more frequent thoracic trauma (53% vs 43%; P = .014), and more episodes of respiratory failure during ICU stay (69.9% vs 28.1%; P < .001). Age (hazard ratio [HR], 0.99; 95% CI, 0.98-0.99; P = .001), chest trauma (HR, 1.4; 95% CI, 1.03-1.90; P = .033), histamine-receptor antagonist intake (HR, 2.16; 95% CI, 1.37-3.39; P = .001), and antibiotic prophylaxis (HR, 0.69; 95% CI, 0.50-0.96; P = .026) were associated with the risk of VAP. Patients with VAP had a longer duration of mechanical ventilation (median, 15 [IQR, 10-22] days vs 8 [IQR, 5-14] days; P < .001) and ICU LOS (median, 20 [IQR, 14-29] days vs 13 [IQR, 8-21] days; P < .001). However, VAP was not associated with increased mortality or worse neurological outcome. Overall mortality at 6 months was 22%., Interpretation: VAP occurs less often than previously described in patients after TBI and has a detrimental effect on ICU LOS but not on mortality and neurological outcome., Clinical Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov; No.: NCT02210221; URL: www.clinicaltrials.gov., (Copyright © 2020 American College of Chest Physicians. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)