[Transcranial color-coded real time ultrasound. An improvement in patient monitoring in the neurosurgical intensive care unit?].

It is still not always possible to detect in time early intracranial complications in neurosurgical critical care patients. In addition, the exact definition of the lesion requires an often life-threatening transport to the CCT. Hence, there is still a need for improved bedside monitoring. New developments in ultrasound technique enable us not only to get a two-dimensional image of intracranial parenchymatous structures through the intact bone but also to visualise, by means of colour-coding, the blood flow the intracranial vessels. In 70 mostly neurotraumatised patients we found that this method is helpful in solving diagnostic or therapeutic problems without the patient having to leave the intensive care unit.