Intracranial pressure monitoring
The monitoring of intracranial pressure is used in treating severe traumatic brain injury patients. This process is called intracranial pressure monitoring. All current clinical available measurement methods are invasive and use various transducer systems. Some non-invasive intracranial pressure measurement methods are currently being studied; these would facilitate diagnostics of traumatic brain injury or other causes of intracranial hypertension without the risks associated with invasive modalities.
Pressure reactivity index is a means of analyzing changes in intracranial pressure with relation to blood pressure, and os probably superior in assessing harmful raised intracranial pressure than a pressure readout alone.
When the brain suffers severe trauma it begins to swell inside the skull. If the brain swelling goes undetected and is not treated the brain becomes deprived of oxygen-rich blood and "starves". This secondary injury causes permanent brain damage. As ICP monitoring allows doctors to determine how much swelling the brain has sustained, cerebrospinal fluid can be drained accordingly in order to prevent oxygen deprivation.
In the United States surveys conducted in 1995, 2000 and 2006 have shown that since 1995 ICP Monitoring rose from 32% to 78% in 2005.
