Evaluation of Serum Calcium Levels in a Cohort of Head Injured Patients: A Prospective Observational Study

Abstract

Objectives:Serum calcium abnormalities in head injurycanresultinanumberofclinicalmanifestations which may worsen outcome. The serum level of calcium is not routinely measured in head injured patients in our country. This study aims to determine the incidence of deranged serum calcium level in a cohort of head injured patients in Nigerian and relate this to injury severity and management outcomeMaterials and

Methods:This was a prospective observational study of head injured patient who presented at our center within 24 hours of trauma during the study period. Clinical and demographic characteristics as well as admission serum calcium levels were analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). The outcome measureswereserumcalciumlevelsandmanagement outcome. Ap-value less than 0.05 was considered as statistically significant.Results:There were 114 patients in the study, 89 males and 25 females (M:F- 3.7:1). The mean age was 31.2±15.8 years. Head injury was severe in 18.42% of the patients, moderate in 22.81% and mild in 58.77% (Table 1). The serum calcium ranged from6.60-10.42mg/dlwithameanof8.62±0.83mg/dl. Serum calcium level was normal in 55.26% of the cases, and low in 44.74% (Fig. 2). There was no correlation between serum calcium level and severity of injury (p=0.667) or outcome of head injury (p=0.973) in this study.

Conclusion:Derangement in admission serum calcium was common in our patients with almost half of our patients presenting with hypocalcaemia. However, there was no correlation between serum calcium level and severity of injury or outcome of head injury in this study.