title: Care of central nervous system injuries.
abstract: The primary method of improving outcome from traumatic brain injury is through avoiding secondary insults to the injured brain. Although surgery is important, most management is critical care. Evidence-based guidelines continue to be developed to assist in directing care. With modern monitoring systems, a physiologic-based approach is increasingly applicable, allowing focused treatment for intracranial hypertension and ischemia. It is important to balance and integrate the care of the injured brain into the overall care of the polytrauma patient.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, University of Washington, Harborview Medical Center, Box 359766, 325 Ninth Avenue, Seattle, WA 98104-2499, USA. chesnutr@u.washington.edu
authors.forename: Randall M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Chesnut
mesh_terms: D001810:Blood Volume / Q000502:physiology; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery / Q000628:therapy*; D002490:Central Nervous System / Q000293:injuries*; D003422:Critical Care; D015600:Glasgow Coma Scale; D006406:Hematoma / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery; D006706:Homeostasis / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007427:Intracranial Pressure / Q000502:physiology; D012121:Respiration, Artificial; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed