Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35615234›Full record

ArticleJournal of the Intensive Care Society2022

Sugar or salt ("SOS"): A protocol for a UK multicentre randomised trial of mannitol and hypertonic saline in severe traumatic brain injury and intracranial hypertension.

M J Rowland, T Veenith, C Scomparin, M H Wilson, P J Hutchinson, A G Kolias, R Lall, S Regan, J Mason, Pjd Andrews and 7 more

Open access · greenAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of the Intensive Care Society, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
0.7field-weighted citation impact, top 26% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 14 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Diuretics for preventing and treating acute kidney injury.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2025
    Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Review
  4. Update on traumatic brain injury in the ICU.Current opinion in anaesthesiology · 2025
    Review
  5. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

17 authors at 8 institutions in 1 country.

M J RowlandKadoorie Centre for Critical Care Research, Nuffield Division of Anaesthesia, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8763-6818
T VeenithInstitute of Inflammation and Ageing, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4125-8804
C ScomparinWarwick Clinical Trials Unit, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK.
M H WilsonImperial Neurotrauma Centre, Department of Neurosurgery, St Mary's Hospital, London, UK.
P J HutchinsonDivision of Neurosurgery, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
A G KoliasDivision of Neurosurgery, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
R LallWarwick Clinical Trials Unit, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK.
S ReganWarwick Clinical Trials Unit, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK.
J MasonWarwick Clinical Trials Unit, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK.
Pjd AndrewsCentre for Clinical Brain Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
D HornerDepartment of Critical Care, Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust, UK.
J NaisbittDepartment of Critical Care, Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust, UK.
A DevrellWarwick Clinical Trials Unit, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK.
A MalinsWarwick Clinical Trials Unit, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK.
P DarkDepartment of Critical Care, Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust, UK.
D F McAuleyRegional Intensive Care Unit, Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast Health and Social Care Trust, Belfast, UK.
G D PerkinsCritical Care Directorate, University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, Birmingham, UK.
University of Warwick · GBSalford Royal NHS Foundation Trust · GBUniversity Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust · GBUniversity of Cambridge · GBNuffield Orthopaedic Centre · GBQueen's University Belfast · GBSt Mary's Hospital · GBUniversity of Edinburgh · GB

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Hyperosmolar solutions are widely used to treat raised intracranial pressure following severe traumatic brain injury. Although mannitol has historically been the most frequently administered, hypertonic saline solutions are increasingly being used. However, definitive evidence regarding their comparative effectiveness is lacking. The Sugar or Salt Trial is a UK randomised, allocation concealed open label multicentre pragmatic trial designed to determine the clinical and cost-effectiveness of hypertonic saline compared with mannitol in the management of patients with severe traumatic brain injury. Patients requiring intensive care unit admission and intracranial pressure monitoring post-traumatic brain injury will be allocated at random to receive equi-osmolar boluses of either mannitol or hypertonic saline following failure of routine first-line measures to control intracranial pressure. The primary outcome for the study will be the Extended Glasgow Outcome Scale assessed at six months after randomisation. Results will inform current clinical practice in the routine use of hyperosmolar therapy as well as assess the impact of potential side effects. Pre-planned longer term clinical and cost effectiveness analyses will further inform the use of these treatments.

Indexed as

hyperosmolar therapyhypertonic salineintracranial pressuremannitolTraumatic brain injury

Identifiers

PMID35615234
PMCPMC9125440
OpenAlexW2982155845

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.