INCIDENCE OF FEVER IN THE REHABILITATION PHASE FOLLOWING BRAIN INJURY

There appears to be high incidence of fever after brain injury. The mo st common cause for fever is infection. The incidence of fever occurri ng as a result of hypothalamic thermoregulatory dysfunction after brai n injury is less clear. This study retrospectively reviewed the charts of 286 subjects with brain injuries. Subject subpopulations were divi ded into traumatic brain injuries, anoxic brain injuries, and brain in juries resulting from aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage. Fever events were described as any core temperature greater than 99.9 degrees F. M ost subjects suffered a severe brain injury and had an average acute h ospital length of stay ranging from 35.4 to 60 days. The average rehab ilitation length of stay ranged from 38.4 to 45.1 days. Twenty-four pe rcent of subjects experienced fevers, with each of the populations hav ing similar occurrence rates. Unexplained fever events were found in t he traumatic brain injury (7%) and aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (8%) subpopulations only. No unexplained fever event was associated wi th a temperature greater than 100.8 degrees F.