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Series:   Elements in Emergency Neurosurgery

Management of Moderate or Severe Traumatic Brain Injury

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 May 2025

Saeed Kayhanian ,
Erta Beqiri ,
Ari Ercole  and
Adel Helmy
Saeed Kayhanian
Affiliation:
University of Cambridge
Erta Beqiri
Affiliation:
University of Cambridge
Ari Ercole
Affiliation:
University of Cambridge
Adel Helmy
Affiliation:
University of Cambridge

Summary

The management of patients with moderate and severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) is centred on the intensive care management to limit the extent of secondary injury to the brain, following the primary trauma. This management aims to optimise the homeostatic environment of the brain after injury and can be guided by multi-modality monitoring, including intracranial pressure (ICP) monitoring. This management often follows a tiered approach to introducing more aggressive interventions to correct physiology, based on evidence for ongoing secondary injury, such as raised ICP. The balance between risk and benefit for these interventions for individual patients is difficult, particularly in the absence of high quality randomised trials for many interventions in this area. In this Element, the authors outline both the approach to intensive care management of moderate and severe TBI, as well as the evidence base available for the interventions discussed.
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Keywords

traumatic brain injuryintracranial pressureintensive caredecompressive craniectomycerebral perfusion pressure
Type
Element
Information
Series: Elements in Emergency Neurosurgery
Online ISBN: 9781009437677
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication: 12 June 2025

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References

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