Background: The use of 5 or more medications is defined as polypharmacy (PPM). The clinical impact of PPM on the isolated severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) patient has not been defined.
Methods: A retrospective cohort study was performed at our academic level 1 trauma center examining patients with isolated TBI. Pre-injury medications were reviewed, and inhospital mortality was the primary measured outcome.
Results: There were 698 patients with an isolated TBI over the 5-year study period; 177 (25.4%) patients reported pre-injury PPM. There were 18 (10.2%) deaths in the PPM cohort and 24 (4.6%) deaths in the non-PPM cohort (P < .0001). Stepwise logistic regression analysis revealed a 2.3 times greater risk of mortality in the PPM patients (P = .019).
Conclusions: Pre-injury PPM increases mortality in patients with isolated severe TBI. This knowledge may provide opportunities for intervention in this population.
Keywords: Polypharmacy; Severe head injury; TBI; Trauma; Traumatic brain injury.
Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.