Neurocritical Care and Brain Monitoring

Abstract

The goal of neurocritical care (NCC) is to improve the outcome of patients with neurologic insults. NCC includes the management of the primary brain injury and prevention of secondary brain injury; this is achieved with standardized clinical care for specific disorders along with neuromonitoring. Neuromonitoring uses multiple modalities, with certain modalities better suited to certain disorders. The term "multimodality monitoring" refers to using multiple modalities at the same time. This article reviews pediatric NCC, the various physiologic parameters used, especially continuous electroencephalographic monitoring.

Keywords: Brain monitoring: noninvasive and invasive; Continuous EEG monitoring; Multimodality monitoring; Pediatric neurocritical care; The ictal-interictal continuum.