Robert Silbergleit
University of Michigan, MI·Medicine & Clinical Research
Severe traumatic brain injury (TBI), a blow to the head that leaves a person in a prolonged coma, affects about 27,000 Americans each year. Fewer than 20% of these patients make a good recovery, and most live with lifelong disability.
- Fields
Medicine & Clinical Research
Neuroscience
- Topics
traumatic brain injury
severe TBI
coma
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Feb 2029
What they work on
- Determine whether a treatment protocol guided by both intracranial pressure and brain tissue oxygen (PbtO2) monitoring improves 6-month recovery, measured by the Glasgow Outcome Scale-Extended, compared with ICP monitoring alone in severe TBI.
- Compare secondary outcomes between the two randomized groups, including cognitive and behavioral function, safety, survival to discharge, time to follow commands, and total brain hypoxia exposure.
- Complete enrollment of 1,094 patients with severe TBI who receive ICP monitors within 6 hours of hospital arrival, across participating hospitals, in a phase 3 randomized trial.
More about the research
Intensive care for severe TBI usually centers on monitoring intracranial pressure (ICP), the pressure inside the skull. Recent trials suggest this approach alone is too simple. Another option is to measure oxygen directly in brain tissue and treat the patient when levels drop. Low brain oxygen is common after TBI and is strongly linked to poor outcomes.
Why it matters
Severe TBI is a major cause of death and lasting disability, and few patients in prolonged coma recover well. If ICU treatment guided by brain oxygen monitoring improves recovery, it could change how neurological intensive care units manage these patients. More patients might then survive with a good recovery. This could also give hospitals clear evidence on whether this monitoring is worth adopting.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Rachel Beekman
Yale University, CT·Medicine & Clinical Research
Measure how well low-field portable MRI agrees with conventional high-field MRI in detecting hypoxic-ischemic brain injury, comparing ratings across readers in 60 cardiac arrest survivors.
Grant Pignatiello
Case Western Reserve University, OH·Psychology
Test whether REFRAME, a tablet-based cognitive reappraisal program, reduces depressive symptoms in ICU surrogate decision-makers compared with informational support, in a 387-person randomized controlled trial.
Daniel Shepshelovich
Columbia University, NY·Medicine & Clinical Research
Determine the feasibility of identifying, consenting and randomizing adults with severe hypernatremia (serum sodium ≥155 mEq/L) to rapid hydration versus standard care in a single-center pilot trial of 80 patients.
The school
University of Michigan: 124 labs on PI Pages, $2.1B a year on research, 963 research doctorates a year.
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