Is There a Relationship between the Types and Severity of Acute Traumatic Brain Injuries in Children and Adolescents and the Incidence of Cardiac Arrhythmias?

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) in children is one of the most common causes of death and disability in children. Cardiac arrhythmias can be cited as one of the main factors influencing the mortality and morbidity of these children. The purpose of this study was to investigate the frequency and types of cardiac arrhythmias in children with TBI in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of Bahonar Hospital in Kerman.
This study is a cross-sectional descriptive-analytical study examining patients under 18 years of age who were admitted to the ICU with TBI during 2018-2019 for cardiac arrhythmias. Data were collected using a checklist, including demographic characteristics and other variables in the patient’s file. Finally, the data were analyzed using SPSS version 22.
Forty-six of the 240 traumatized patients admitted to the ICU developed cardiac arrhythmias, the most common of which was sinus tachycardia. The incidence of arrhythmias was significantly higher in patients with subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH), cerebral contusion, and intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) than in those with other brain lesions. Most bradycardia was seen in mixed lesions. Dangerous arrhythmias, such as bradycardia and ventricular tachycardia (VT), were also significantly more common in the severe trauma group.
It seems that in children with a head injury, the incidence of cardiac arrhythmias is significantly associated with the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) and some lesions due to brain trauma such as SAH, ICH, and brain contusion.