Abstract:Objective To explore the predictive value of optic nerve sheath diameter (ONSD) combined with relative alpha variability (RAV) for the prognosis of craniocerebral injury in children.Methods Eighty children with traumatic craniocerebral injury admitted to our hospital from September 2022 to December 2023 were selected, and children were subjected to bedside ultrasonography and quantitative electroencephalography at 72 h of admission, as well as the monitoring of vital signs, routine treatment, and daily assessment of their state of consciousness. Children were categorized into the good group and the poor group based on the prognosis at 28 days of admission. ONSD and RAV were compared between the two groups, and their correlations with the Modified Pediatric Glasgow Coma Scale (MPGCS) and Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II (APACHE II) scores were analyzed. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was plotted to determine the predictive value of ONSD and RAV for the prognosis of children with craniocerebral injury.Results The proportion of severe cases and the APACHE II scores at 72 h of admission in the good group were lower than those in the poor group (P < 0.05), while the MPGCS scores at 72 h of admission in the good group were higher than those in the poor group (P < 0.05). There was no significant difference in sex, age and BMI between the two groups as assessed by the Chi-square test or t-test (P > 0.05). The difference of ONSD in the good group was higher than that in the poor group (P < 0.05), whereas the difference of RAV in the good group was lower than that in the poor group (P < 0.05). The ONSD at 72 h of admission was positively correlated with the APACHE II scores (r = 0.376, P < 0.05), and negatively correlated with the MPGCS scores (r = -0.442, P < 0.05). The ONSD at 24 h of admission was negatively correlated with the APACHE II scores (r = -0.401, P < 0.05), and positively correlated with the MPGCS scores (r = 0.398, P <0.05). The RAV at 72 h of admission was negatively correlated with the APACHE II scores (r = -0.421, P < 0.05), and positively correlated with the MPGCS scores (r = 0.413, P < 0.05). The ROC curve analysis revealed that all of the MPGCS scores, ONSD and RAV at 72 h of admission could predict the prognosis of children, with the areas under the ROC curves being 0.753, 0.673 and 0.793, respectively. The combination of ONSD and RAV at 72 h of admission had the highest predictive efficacy, with a sensitivity of 88.2% (95% CI: 0.695, 0.974) and a specificity of 87.3% (95% CI: 0.684, 0.971).Conclusions ONSD and PAV are of certain predictive value for the prognosis of children with craniocerebral injury, and their combined detection at 72 h of admission yields the optimal predictive efficacy.