Neutrophil-albumin ratio serves as a superior prognostic biomarker for traumatic brain injury

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) represents a common and severe medical condition necessitating prompt risk stratification to enhance patient outcomes. Although substantial research has been conducted on the prognostic utility of various biomarkers for TBI, no single biomarker has been definitively recognized as the most precise predictor of disease outcomes. In comparison to other markers, the neutrophil-albumin ratio (NAR) has emerged as a cost-effective and reproducible inflammatory biomarker, demonstrating potential in evaluating the severity of inflammation and prognosticating outcomes in infections and cerebrovascular diseases. This study evaluated the prognostic significance of the NAR in comparison to two other readily accessible and cost-effective composite indices: the Neutrophil-Lymphocyte Ratio (NLR) and the Platelet-Lymphocyte Ratio (PLR) in individuals with TBI. We conducted a retrospective cohort analysis involving 297 hospitalized TBI patients, gathering comprehensive demographic, anthropometric, medical, clinical, laboratory, and imaging data to assess the expression changes of these biomarkers. Our findings suggest that both the NAR and the NLR possess predictive value regarding prognosis following TBI. However, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis revealed that NAR outperformed NLR as a prognostic predictor. In conclusion, our examination of blood biochemistry composite indicators indicates that, while both NAR and NLR serve as significant prognostic markers, NAR is a more effective predictor of outcomes in patients with TBI.