Articles: subarachnoid-hemorrhage.
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Monitoring of brain tissue oxygenation (PbtO2) is an important component of multimodal monitoring in traumatic brain injury. Over recent years, use of PbtO2 monitoring has also increased in patients with poor-grade subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH), particularly in those with delayed cerebral ischemia. The aim of this scoping review was to summarize the current state of the art regarding the use of this invasive neuromonitoring tool in patients with SAH. ⋯ The most widely used PbtO2 threshold to define brain tissue hypoxia and initiate specific treatment is between 15 and 20 mm Hg. PbtO2 values can help identify the need for or the effects of various therapies, such as hyperventilation, hyperoxia, induced hypothermia, induced hypertension, red blood cell transfusion, osmotic therapy, and decompressive craniectomy. Finally, a low PbtO2 value is associated with a worse prognosis, and an increase of the PbtO2 value in response to treatment is a marker of good outcome.
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Delayed cerebral ischemia (DCI) is one of the most important complications of subarachnoid hemorrhage. Despite lack of prospective evidence, medical rescue interventions for DCI include hemodynamic augmentation using vasopressors or inotropes, with limited guidance on specific blood pressure and hemodynamic parameters. For DCI refractory to medical interventions, endovascular rescue therapies (ERTs), including intraarterial (IA) vasodilators and percutaneous transluminal balloon angioplasty, are the cornerstone of management. ⋯ The existing literature on DCI rescue therapies is limited by small sample sizes, significant variability in patient populations, lack of standardized methodology, variable definitions of DCI, poorly reported outcomes, lack of long-term functional, cognitive, and patient-centered outcomes, and lack of control groups. Therefore, our current ability to interpret clinical results and make reliable recommendations regarding the use of rescue therapies is limited. This review summarizes existing literature on rescue therapies for DCI, provides practical guidance, and identifies future research needs.
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Delayed cerebral ischemia (DCI) continues to be a significant contributor to morbidity and mortality following aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH). Subarachnoid blood and its degradation products have been implicated in DCI, and faster blood clearance has been hypothesized to confer better outcomes. This study evaluates the relationship between blood volume and its clearance on DCI (primary outcome) and location at 30 days (secondary outcome) after aSAH. ⋯ Early blood clearance after aSAH was associated with DCI (univariable and multivariable analyses) and outcome location at 30 days (multivariable analysis). Methods facilitating subarachnoid blood clearance warrant further investigation.
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Anemia is very common in aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH), with approximately half of the aSAH patient population developing moderate anemia during their hospital stay. The available evidence (both physiologic and clinical) generally supports an association of anemia with unfavorable outcomes. Although aSAH shares a number of common mechanisms of secondary insult with other forms of acute brain injury, aSAH also has specific features that make it unique: an early phase (in which early brain injury predominates) and a delayed phase (in which delayed cerebral ischemia and vasospasm predominate). ⋯ The transfusion targets that are well established in other critically ill populations should not be automatically applied to patients with aSAH because of the unique disease characteristics of this population and the limited representation of aSAH in the clinical trials that established these targets. There are two upcoming clinical trials evaluating transfusion in aSAH that should help clarify specific transfusion targets. Until then, it is reasonable to base transfusion decisions on the current guidelines and use an individualized approach incorporating physiologic and clinical data when available.
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The neurointensive care management of patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH) is one of the most critical components contributing to short-term and long-term patient outcomes. Previous recommendations for the medical management of aSAH comprehensively summarized the evidence based on consensus conference held in 2011. In this report, we provide updated recommendations based on appraisal of the literature using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation methodology. ⋯ These guidelines provide recommendations for or against interventions proven to be effective, ineffective, or harmful in the medical management of patients with aSAH based on a rigorous review of the available literature. They also serve to highlight gaps in knowledge that should guide future research priorities. Despite improvements in the outcomes of patients with aSAH over time, many important clinical questions remain unanswered.