Do pregnant women have improved outcomes after traumatic brain injury?

BackgroundPregnant women, who have significantly elevated levels of estrogen and progesterone, might benefit from the neuroprotective effect of steroid hormones.MethodsPregnant patients were identified and compared with their nonpregnant counterparts with respect to demographics and outcome.ResultsOf the 18,800 female, moderate to severe TBI patients, 71 were pregnant. Similar mortalities were noted in pregnant and nonpregnant TBI patients (9.9% vs 9.3%, P = .84). Adjusting for confounding variables, pregnant TBI patients had a trend toward increased mortality (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 2.2; 95% confidence interval [CI], .9–5.1; P = .07). In patients aged 15 to 47 years (n = 8,854), similar mortalities were noted in pregnant and nonpregnant TBI patients (9.9% vs 6.8%, P = .34). After adjusting for risk factors, again there was a trend toward increased mortality in the pregnant TBI group (AOR = 2.0; 95% CI, .8–4.6; P = .12).ConclusionsPregnant patients with moderate to severe TBI show no statistically significant difference in mortality compared with their nonpregnant counterparts.