Complete neurological recovery after 13 minutes of hypovolemic hypotension

Critical Care Medicine
D M RoseJ Eugene

Abstract

It has been shown experimentally that irreversible brain injury and death may follow after 5-7 min of cerebral ischemia and that even brief periods, 2 min or less, can produce focal damage to the nervous system. All published studies demonstrating a protective effect of barbiturates have been performed in animals. A patient is presented who recovered full neurological function after 13 min of hypovolemic hypotension. This remarkable outcome may have been due to the rapid institution of high-dose barbiturate therapy. The extent to which such therapy affected his outcome is unclear, but does add to the growing body of evidence suggesting a favorable effect from this type of barbiturate therapy.

Citations

Apr 4, 1981·British Medical Journal
Nov 1, 1984·Annals of Emergency Medicine·J E ClintonE Ruiz
Dec 1, 1994·Journal of Anesthesia·Tatsuhiko KanoKazufumi Okamoto

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Related Concepts

Related Feeds

Brain Ischemia

Brain ischemia is a condition in which there is insufficient blood flow to the brain to meet metabolic demand. Discover the latest research on brain ischemia here.