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Associations between intracranial pressure thresholds and multimodal monitoring in acute traumatic neural injury: a scoping review

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Abstract

Background

Current moderate/severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) guidelines suggest the use of an intracranial pressure (ICP) treatment threshold of 20 mmHg or 22 mmHg. Over the past decade, the use of various cerebral physiology monitoring devices has been incorporated into neurocritical care practice and termed “multimodal monitoring.” Such modalities include those that monitor systemic hemodynamics, systemic and brain oxygenation, cerebral blood flow (CBF), cerebral autoregulation, electrophysiology, and cerebral metabolism. Given that the relationship between ICP and outcomes is not yet entirely understood, a comprehensive review of the literature on the associations between ICP thresholds and multimodal monitoring is still needed.

Methods

We conducted a scoping review of the literature for studies that present an objective statistical association between ICP above/below threshold and any multimodal monitoring variable. MEDLINE, BIOSIS, Cochrane library, EMBASE, Global Health, and SCOPUS were searched from inception to July 2022 for relevant articles. Full-length, peer-reviewed, original works with a sample size of ≥50 moderate-severe TBI patients were included in this study.

Results

A total of 13 articles were deemed eligible for final inclusion. The included articles were significantly heterogenous in terms of their designs, demographics, and results, making it difficult to draw any definitive conclusions. No literature describing the association between guideline-based ICP thresholds and measures of brain electrophysiology, cerebral metabolism, or direct metrics of CBF was found.

Conclusion

There is currently little literature that presents objective statistical associations between ICP thresholds and multimodal monitoring physiology. However, overall, the literature indicates that having ICP above guideline based thresholds is associated with increased blood pressure, increased cardiac decoupling, reduced parenchymal brain oxygen tension, and impaired cerebral autoregulation, with no association with CBF velocity within the therapeutic range of ICP. There was insufficient literature to comment on other multimodal monitoring measures.

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Funding

This work was directly supported through the Manitoba Public Insurance (MPI) Professorship in Neuroscience, and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) (DGECR-2022-00260, RGPIN-2022-03621, ALLRP-576386-22, ALLRP-578524-22). KYS is supported through the University of Manitoba R.G. and E.M. Graduate Fellowship (Doctoral) in Biomedical Engineering and the University of Manitoba MD/PhD program. AG is supported through a CIHR Fellowship. LF is supported through a Research Manitoba PhD Fellowship, the Brain Canada Thompkins Travel Scholarship, NSERC (ALLRP-576386-22), and the Graduate Enhancement of Tri-Council Stipends (GETS)—University of Manitoba. ASS is supported through the University of Manitoba Graduate Fellowship (UMGF)—Biomedical Engineering, NSERC (RGPIN-2022-03621), and the Graduate Enhancement of Tri-Council Stipends (GETS)—University of Manitoba. NV is supported by NSERC (RGPIN-2022-03621). FAZ is supported through the Manitoba Public Insurance (MPI) Professorship in Neuroscience/TBI Research Endowment, NSERC, Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the MPI Neuroscience Research Operating Fund, the Health Sciences Centre Foundation Winnipeg, the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI)(Project #: 38583), Research Manitoba (Grant #: 3906 and 5429), and the University of Manitoba VPRI Research Investment Fund (RIF).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biomedical Engineering, Price Faculty of Engineering, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada

    Kevin Y. Stein, Fiorella Amenta, Logan Froese, Amanjyot Singh Sainbhi, Nuray Vakitbilir, Izabella Marquez & Frederick A. Zeiler

  2. Section of Neurosurgery, Department of Surgery, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada

    Alwyn Gomez & Frederick A. Zeiler

  3. Department of Human Anatomy and Cell Science, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada

    Alwyn Gomez & Frederick A. Zeiler

  4. Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden

    Frederick A. Zeiler

  5. Division of Anaesthesia, Department of Medicine, Addenbrooke’s Hospital, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

    Frederick A. Zeiler

  6. Centre on Aging, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada

    Frederick A. Zeiler

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  1. Kevin Y. Stein
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Correspondence to Kevin Y. Stein.

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Appendix A: PRISMA Checklist. Appendix B: Sample MEDLINE Search Strategy

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Stein, K.Y., Amenta, F., Gomez, A. et al. Associations between intracranial pressure thresholds and multimodal monitoring in acute traumatic neural injury: a scoping review. Acta Neurochir 165, 1987–2000 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00701-023-05587-6

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