Neurocritical Care

Mechanical ventilation is commonly used in critically ill patients with acute brain injury. Positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) and lung recruitment maneuvers are important ventilator strategies for improving oxygenation, but they may also influence cerebral blood flow, systemic hemodynamics, carbon dioxide levels, and brain electrical activity. The effects of PEEP-related ventilator changes on cortical function in neurocritical care patients remain insufficiently understood. This prospective observational physiological study will evaluate changes in brain electrical activity and cerebral blood flow during clinically indicated lung recruitment maneuvers and PEEP adjustments in mechanically ventilated neurocritical care patients. Multimodal monitoring will include electroencephalography (EEG), transcranial Doppler ultrasound, invasive arterial blood pressure, end-tidal carbon dioxide, and routine clinical variables. EEG-derived measures, including delta power ratio and related frequency-domain indicators, will be used to describe cortical activity. Cerebral blood flow velocity and low-frequency neurovascular coupling measures will be explored as secondary physiological outcomes. The study will examine whether PEEP-related changes are associated with alterations in EEG activity, cerebral blood flow, and neurovascular coupling, and whether these responses differ according to clinical status. The results may help improve understanding of brain-lung interactions during mechanical ventilation and inform future studies on individualized ventilation strategies in neurocritical care.

The LIMIT-TBI trial is a multicenter, international, randomized, phase II clinical trial designed to evaluate the feasibility and safety of targeting a neutral fluid balance compared to standard care in critically ill adult patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI). Fluid therapy is a cornerstone of TBI management, but optimal fluid balance remains uncertain, with both fluid overload and restriction potentially leading to adverse outcomes. This study aims to determine whether maintaining a daily fluid balance close to zero (±500 mL) during the first 5 days of ICU admission is achievable and safe. Participants will be randomized within 48 hours of ICU admission to either a protocolized neutral fluid balance strategy or standard care. Outcomes include feasibility of achieving the target balance, organ complications, hemodynamic parameters, ICU resource utilization, and mortality and neurological outcomes up to 6 months.

Study Objective This clinical trial primarily aims to investigate whether semi-elemental enteral nutrition (SEN) improves gastrointestinal tolerance in patients with severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) and to evaluate its impact on clinical outcomes. The safety profile of SEN will also be assessed. Key Research Questions Does SEN reduce the incidence of acute gastrointestinal injury (AGI) in severe TBI patients? Study Design Participants will be randomized 1:1 into either: Intervention group: Receives SEN initiated within 48 hours post-injury and continued for ≥7 days. Control group: Receives standard enteral nutrition over the same period.

This study aims to develop and validate a prognostic model for neurocritical patients using multimodal brain monitoring data. By combining data from various monitoring techniques such as EEG, TCD, and NIRS, this model will help predict 90-day outcomes (awake, comatose, or deceased) and support personalized treatment decisions. The study is observational and involves no experimental interventions.

Enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) is a strategy of perioperative management aimed to accelerate the rehabilitation of patients through various optimized perioperative managements as well as ongoing adherence to a patient-focused, multidisciplinary, and multimodal approach. Alleviating the injury and stress caused by surgery or disease is the core principle of ERAS, which has been shown to reduce complication rates after surgery, promote patient recovery, decrease hospital length of stay and reduce costs. ERAS has been widely applied in many surgical perioperative fields, and it has achieved remarkable effects. However, there are few applications of ERAS in neurosurgery, especially in clinical trials of neurocritical care patients. Therefore, the investigators attempt to conduct the study of ERAS in neurosurgical intensive patients using a series of optimized perioperative managements that have been verified to be effective by evidence-based medicine, and to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of ERAS in neurocritical care. The aim of this study is to explore the most suitable ERAS protocols to accelerate the postoperative rehabilitation process of neurocritical care patients, and to provide more evidence-based medicine for the effectiveness and safety of ERAS in neurosurgery.