Lack of correlation among intracerebral cytokines, intracranial pressure, and brain tissue oxygenation in patients with traumatic brain injury and diffuse lesions*

Abstract

No clear relationship was found between the temporal pattern of cytokines and the behavior of the intracranial pressure, brain tissue oxygenation, and the presence or absence of swelling in the computed tomography scan. This study demonstrates the feasibility of microdialysis in recovering cytokines for a prolonged time, although there may be some nonresolved methodologic problems with this technique when we try to study the inflammation during traumatic brain injury that could affect the results and make interpretation of microdialysis data prone to difficulties.