Source
Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care, Pitié-Salpêtrière Teaching Hospital, Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris and Université Pierre et Marie Curie-Paris 6, Paris, France.
Abstract
PURPOSE OF REVIEW:
The review provides key points and recent advances regarding the treatments of intracranial hypertension as a consequence of traumatic brain injury. The review is based on the pathophysiology of brain edema and draws on the current literature as well as clinical bedside experience.
RECENT FINDINGS:
The review will cite baseline literature and discuss emerging data on cerebral perfusion pressure, sedation, hypothermia, osmotherapy and albumin as treatments of intracranial hypertension in traumatic brain-injured patients.
SUMMARY:
One of the key issues is to consider that traumatic brain injury is more likely a syndrome than a disease. In particular, the presence or absence of a high contusional volume could influence the treatments to be implemented. The use of osmotherapy and/or high cerebral perfusion pressure should be restricted to patients without major contusions. Some physiopathological, experimental and clinical data, however, show that corticosteroids and albumin--therapies that have been proven deleterious if administered systematically--are worth reconsidering for this subgroup of patients. The current Pitié-Salpêtrière algorithm, where treatments are stratified according to their potential side effects, will be added at the end of the review as an example of an integrated strategy.