Critical care : the official journal of the Critical Care Forum
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Endotracheal suctioning (ES) provokes a cumulative hemodynamic response by activation of sympathetic and parasympathetic circuits in the central nervous system. In this proof-of-concept study, we aimed to analyze hemodynamic changes during ES in ventilated subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) patients and investigated whether the associated hemodynamic changes relate to the time to arousal and functional outcome. ⋯ Augmentation in heart rate may quantify the hemodynamic response during endotracheal suctioning in brain-injured patients. The value as a biomarker to early discriminate the time to arousal and functional outcome in acutely brain-injured patients needs prospective confirmation.