title: Fever management in patients with brain injury.
abstract: Elevated temperature in patients with brain injury has been linked to increased hospital and intensive care unit lengths of stay, increased morbidity, greater disability, and higher mortality. The prevailing medical opinion is that maintaining normothermia in patients with acute brain injury is beneficial. However, little evidence exists to support this recommendation. Nurses are responsible for diagnosing and treating fever, but evidence-based guidelines that would govern fever management for these patients do not exist. This article discusses what evidence is available to support the management of fever in patients with brain injury and in what areas evidence is lacking.
authors.affiliation: Indiana University Southeast School of Nursing, New Albany, 47150, USA. lmcilvoy@ius.edu
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: McIlvoy
mesh_terms: D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000150:complications* / Q000503:physiopathology; D005334:Fever / Q000209:etiology / Q000451:nursing*; D006801:Humans