Abstract: Objective To investigate the prognosis of 102 patients with diffuse axonal injury (DAI) and analyze the related factors. Methods A total of 102 DAI patients hospitalized in our hospital from January 2016 to January 2018 were divided into survival group (n=70) and death group (n=32) according to the 6-month survival after injury. The extended Glasgow outcome score (GOS-E) was used to describe the prognosis of patients who were survival at 6 months after injury, and these patients were subdivided into dependent group (n=8) and independent group (n=59). The chi-square test and Fisher's exact method were used to determine the factors associated with prognosis including mortality and dependence of patients. Results The new injury severity score (NISS) was (46.83 ± 10.69) for 102 patients at admission. The 63.7% of these DAI patients (65 / 102) were classified as mild or moderate DAI, and 36.3% of patients (37 / 102) were severe DAI. Patients with mild to moderate DAI showed higher survival rate and lower dependence rate on life than patients with severe DAI (P＜0.05). The incidence of abnormal blood glucose, abnormal SpO2 and pupillary abnormality were higher in the death group at admission than those in the survival group (P＜0.05). During hospitalization, the incidence of other complications, cerebral hemorrhage (ICH) and abnormal blood pressure were higher in the death group compared with those of survival group, but the proportion of early DAI signs on CT was lower in death group (P＜0.05). In the dependent group, ICU hospitalization, infection, continued sedative drug use, other complications and ICH were higher than those in the independent group (P＜0.05). Conclusion (1) The more severe the injury of DAI patients, the higher the mortality rate and dependence. (2) There are high incidence of abnormal blood glucose, SpO2 abnormality and pupillary abnormality at admission and high incidence of blood pressure abnormalities, early DAI signs on CT, ICH, and other complications during hospitalization in patients in the death group. (3) Patients in the dependent group show a high proportion of ICU hospitalization, infection, continued sedative drug use, other complications and ICH during hospitalization.

Key words: diffuse axonal injury, glasgow outcome scale, intracerebral hemorrhage, traumatic brain injury