Traumatic Brain Injury Advanced Multimodal Neuromonitoring From Theory to Clinical Practice

Traumatic brain injury accounts for nearly 1.4 million injuries and 52 000 deaths annually in the United States. Intensive bedside neuromonitoring is critical in preventing secondary ischemic and hypoxic injury common to patients with traumatic brain injury in the days following trauma. Advancements in multimodal neuromonitoring have allowed the evaluation of changes in markers of brain metabolism (eg, glucose, lactate, pyruvate, and glycerol) and other physiological parameters such as intracranial pressure, cerebral perfusion pressure, cerebral blood flow, partial pressure of oxygen in brain tissue, blood pressure, and brain temperature. This article highlights the use of multimodal monitoring in the intensive care unit at a level I trauma center in the Pacific Northwest. The trends in and significance of metabolic, physiological, and hemodynamic factors in traumatic brain injury are reviewed, the technical aspects of the specific equipment used to monitor these parameters are described, and how multimodal monitoring may guide therapy is demonstrated. As a clinical practice, multimodal neuromonitoring shows great promise in improving bedside therapy in patients with traumatic brain injury, ultimately leading to improved neurological outcomes. (Critical Care Nurse. 2011;31:25-37)