Articles: neurocritical-care.
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In this review, we discuss treatment and considerations for status epilepticus in general intensive care unit patients, acquired brain injury, autoimmune conditions, toxidromes, pediatrics, and pregnancy.
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Quality improvement is key to advancing outcomes for neurocritically ill patients. Variation in neurocritical care practice can lead to differences in health outcomes and contribute to health disparities. ⋯ Neurocritical care performance measures have recently been developed and may be used to target high priority areas for improvement. In addition, neurocritical care clinicians should be aware of the heavily weighted pay-for-performance and publicly reported performance measures that are directly relevant to neurocritical care practice.
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Delirium occurs frequently in patients with stroke and neurocritical illness but is often underrecognized. We developed a novel delirium screening tool designed specifically for neurocritical care patients called the fluctuating mental status evaluation (FMSE) and aimed to test its usability and accuracy in a representative cohort of patients with intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH). ⋯ In this pilot study, the FMSE achieved a high sensitivity and specificity in detecting delirium. Follow-up validation studies in a larger more diverse cohort of neurocritical care patients will use score cutoffs of ≥ 1 as "possible" delirium and ≥ 2 as "probable" delirium.
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The role of the neurointensivist as a subspecialist has been cemented in modern medicine globally. It was forged through the collaboration of neurologists, neurosurgeons, internists, anesthesiologists, general surgeons, emergency medicine physicians, and pediatricians. ⋯ Neurocritical care harnesses knowledge, technology, resources, and research opportunities to embrace a multisystem approach to care for the neurologically critically ill. Although recently formally recognized, its crucial role to serve patients with acute, life-threatening neurologic insults has been well established.
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Journal of anesthesia · Oct 2020
ReviewAn overview of management of intracranial hypertension in the intensive care unit.
Intracranial hypertension (IH) is a clinical condition commonly encountered in the intensive care unit, which requires immediate treatment. The maintenance of normal intracranial pressure (ICP) and cerebral perfusion pressure in order to prevent secondary brain injury (SBI) is the central focus of management. SBI can be detected through clinical examination and invasive and non-invasive ICP monitoring. ⋯ To control elevated ICP refractory to maximum standard medical and surgical treatment, at first, high-dose barbiturate administration and then decompressive craniectomy as a last step are recommended with unclear and probable benefit on outcomes, respectively. The therapeutic strategy should be based on a staircase approach and be individualized for each patient. Since most therapeutic interventions have an uncertain effect on neurological outcome and mortality, future research should focus on both studying the long-term benefits of current strategies and developing new ones.