If your loved one has suffered from a severe head injury during an accident, it is likely that doctors will be measuring something called intra-cranial pressure (ICP).

The brain is enclosed in the bony skull, and normal pressure within the skull is between 7-15 mm/hg (millimeters of mercury). This pressure allows blood and fluid to flow freely through and around the brain, keeping it oxygenated and healthy.

If there is bleeding or swelling of the brain, the pressure can rapidly go up. This is because there is nowhere for the excess fluid or swollen tissue to go. It presses against the skull, increasing the intracranial pressure. This is dangerous because as the pressure rises, it becomes harder for blood and oxygen to reach the tissues.

How is it Measured?

There are several ways intracranial pressure can be measured; one of these is through a small catheter placed into a ventricle (open area) near the center of the brain by a neurosurgeon. This catheter can measure pressure, drain excess fluid and enable medications, such as antibiotics, to be injected directly.

If your loved one has an ICP catheter they will likely be sedated and on a ventilator. This is because it’s very important to keep a brain injured patient as quiet as possible. Doctors want to avoid any situations that may increase stress, blood pressure, or agitation, which would further raise the pressure inside the brain.

The patient will be hooked up to a monitor and the ICP will be one of the readings on that monitor. The critical care nurse can show you which one it is. It is normal for the pressure to go up ad down throughout the day, and alarms will be set to warn the medical team if it goes dangerously out of range.

Continuous measurement of the ICP is an excellent way to determine if treatments are working, or if additional medications or procedures are needed to reduce the pressure inside the brain.

Advocacy for Head Injury Victims

Head and brain injury often result in life-long complications. While the brain has amazing self-healing properties, alterations in how signals flow through the brain affect physical movement, memory, critical thinking, emotion and overall quality of life.

As a rehabilitation physician, Dr. Greg Vigna has managed the long term recovery of many head injury patients. The importance of proactive and comprehensive therapy can’t be understated. As a certified Life Care planner and head injury lawyer, Dr. Vigna advocates for leading edge treatments and compensation to cover life-long needs.