INTRODUCTION Only limited data are available on consent and satisfaction of patients receiving specialized neurocritical care. In this study we (i) analyzed the extent of retrospective consent to neurocritical care--given by patients or their relatives--depending on functional outcome one year after hospital stay, and (ii) identified predisposing factors for retrospective agreement to neurocrit...

INTRODUCTION Sedation protocols are needed for neurointensive patients. The aim of this pilot study was to describe sedation practice at a neurointensive care unit and to assess the feasibility and efficacy of a new sedation protocol. The primary outcomes were a shift from sedation-based to analgesia-based sedation and improved pain management. The secondary outcomes were a reduction in unplann...

Ronan M. G. Berg, Ronni R. Plovsing, Andreas Ronit, Damian M. Bailey, Niels-Henrik Holstein-Rathlou, and Kirsten Møller Centre of Inflammation and Metabolism, Department of Infectious Diseases, University Hospital Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen Ø, Denmark; Renal and Vascular Research Section, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen N, Denm...

A method for monitoring cortical perfusion by laser Doppler flowmetry (LDF) in the neurointensive care unit is described. Out of 22 patients with head injuries, reliable and long term recordings were obtained in 16. Laser Doppler flowmetry registered changes in cortical microcirculatory flow in response to spontaneous waves of raised intracranial pressure, and to therapeutic manoeuvres that alt...

BACKGROUND Critically ill patients are at high risk for acquiring Clostridium difficile infection. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence, severity, and outcome of neurointensive care unit (NICU) acquired Clostridium difficile associated disease (CDAD). MATERIALS AND METHODS Intensive care admission and hospital infection control databases from April 2008 to August 2010 were ...

OBJECTIVE To report cluster breathing pattern associated with a nonbrainstem lesion. DESIGN Case report. SETTING Neurointensive care unit, St Mary's Hospital, Rochester, Minn. PATIENT A patient with subarachnoid hemorrhage developed severe, diffuse, distal bilateral middle cerebral artery vasospasm with resultant cortical laminar necrosis and transient cluster breathing. Intervention Magn...