Emergency intracranial pressure monitoring in pediatrics: management of the acute coma of brain insult.

Over an 18-month period, 56 pediatric patients who sustained severe neurologic insults underwent intracranial pressure (ICP) monitoring. Indications for monitoring ICP were (1) a Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score of 7 or less or (2) loss of consciousness with inability to utter recognizable words or follow commands. Diagnoses were head trauma (n = 40), Reye's syndrome (n = 10), and hypoxic encephalopathy due to near-drowning (n = 6). Eighty per cent of patients had ICP elevations requiring treatment. The complication rate was 5.3 per cent, with no serious complications or infections noted. Overall mortality was 14 per cent, but patients with hypoxic encephalopathy had significantly higher mortality (33%) when compared to patients with head trauma (12.5%) or Reye's syndrome (10%). Other factors associated with a poor outcome included presence of an intracranial mass lesion, GCS score, ICP elevations, hypoxemia, hypotension, hypercarbia, and the presence of multiple injuries (p less than 0.01). Early diagnosis and aggressive treatment in these patients, including the use of ICP monitoring, has resulted in acceptable recovery in over 85 per cent of these patients.