Journal of Anesthesiology and Pain

Background and aims
Secondary brain damage due to head trauma is one of the causes of death especially in young victims. Prolonged disability and death happen in most severe head trauma cases. Use of hypnotic drugs such as benzodiazeapine, barbiturates and propofol plus opioids cause sedation for respiratory support by mechanical ventilation. This study investigated the efficacy of thiopental in compare with propofol in mortality rate and prognosis of patients with severe head trauma.
Material and methods
130 patients suffering from head injury with GCS =8 randomly divided to two groups. They were treated with infusion of thiopental or propofol for 48 hours. Then their clinical signs improvement, mortality rate and remained of clinical symptoms evaluated for 3 months.
Results
Patients under propofol treatment had better prognosis than the other group.
Conclusions
Propofol better protects brain tissue from hydrogen peroxide and reduces metabolic rate at early hours of injuries with better brain perfusion. These reduce secondary brain injury and secondary disability.