Neurocritical care
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Microdialysis is a powerful technique, which enables the chemistry of the extracellular space to be measured directly. Applying this technique to patients in neurointensive care has increased our understanding of the pathophysiology of traumatic brain injury and spontaneous hemorrhage. In parallel, it is important to determine the place of microdialysis in assisting in the management of patients on an individual intention to treat basis. ⋯ The objective of this paper is to review the fundamental literature pertinent to the clinical application of microdialysis in neurointensive care and to give recommendations on how the technique can be applied to assist in patient management and contribute to outcome. A literature search detected 1,933 publications of which 55 were used for data abstraction and analysis. The role of microdialysis was evaluated in three conditions (traumatic brain injury, subarachnoid hemorrhage, and intracerebral hemorrhage) and recommendations focused on three fundamental areas (relationship to outcome, application of microdialysis to guide therapy, and the ability of microdialysis to predict secondary deterioration).
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To determine the optimal use and indications of electroencephalography (EEG) in critical care management of acute brain injury (ABI). An electronic literature search was conducted for articles in English describing electrophysiological monitoring in ABI from January 1990 to August 2013. A total of 165 studies were included. ⋯ Data obtained from both EEG and EP studies may help estimate prognosis in ABI patients, particularly following CA and traumatic brain injury. Data supporting these recommendations is sparse, and high quality studies are needed. EEG is used to monitor and detect seizures and ischemia in ICU patients and indications for EEG are clear for certain disease states, however, uncertainty remains on other applications.
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Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a major cause of death and disability worldwide. In large part critical care for TBI is focused on the identification and management of secondary brain injury. This requires effective neuromonitoring that traditionally has centered on intracranial pressure (ICP). ⋯ Increased ICP, particularly the pattern of the increase and ICP refractory to treatment is associated with increased mortality. Class I evidence is lacking on how monitoring and management of ICP influences outcome. However, a large body of observational data suggests that ICP management has the potential to influence outcome, particularly when care is targeted and individualized and supplemented with data from other monitors including the clinical examination and imaging.
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The effect of intracranial pressure (ICP) and the role of ICP monitoring are best studied in traumatic brain injury (TBI). However, a variety of acute neurologic illnesses e.g., subarachnoid hemorrhage, intracerebral hemorrhage, ischemic stroke, meningitis/encephalitis, and select metabolic disorders, e.g., liver failure and malignant, brain tumors can affect ICP. The purpose of this paper is to review the literature about ICP monitoring in conditions other than TBI and to provide recommendations how the technique may be used in patient management. ⋯ Increased ICP can adversely affect outcome, particularly when it fails to respond to treatment. However, patients with elevated ICP can still have favorable outcomes. Although the influence of ICP-based care on outcome in non-TBI conditions appears less robust than in TBI, monitoring ICP and cerebral perfusion pressure can play a role in guiding therapy in select patients.
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Review
Clinical Monitoring Scales in Acute Brain Injury: Assessment of Coma, Pain, Agitation, and Delirium.
Serial clinical examination represents the most fundamental and basic form of neurological monitoring, and is often the first and only form of such monitoring in patients. Even in patients subjected to physiological monitoring using a range of technologies, the clinical examination remains an essential tool to follow neurological progress. Key aspects of the clinical examination have now been systematized into scoring schemes, and address consciousness, pain, agitation, and delirium (PAD). ⋯ Conventional sedation scoring tools for critical care, such as the Richmond Area Sedation Scale (RASS) and Sedation-Agitation Scale (SAS) may provide reasonable tools in some neurocritical care patients. The use of sedative drugs and neuromuscular blockers may invalidate the use of some clinical examination tools in others. The use of sedation interruption to assess neurological status can result in physiological derangement in unstable patients (such as those with uncontrolled intracranial hypertension), and is not recommended.