Introduction:

Neurotrauma is a condition that can lead to intracranial hypertension, which is a very serious situation. The diagnostic methods of choice are the invasive ones, even so, the non-invasive ones offer many advantages, the ultrasound of the optic nerve is among them.

Objective:

To describe essential elements of optic nerve ultrasound as a method to diagnose intracranial hypertension in adult patients with neurotrauma.

Methods:

A review of the most recent literature was made without linguistic or geographical restrictions in databases such as PubMed and SciELO, terms related to the theme of the manuscript were used. A critical assessment of the consulted bibliography was made.

Results:

The available literature on optic nerve ultrasound in the determination of intracranial hypertension is abundant and most points to the benefits as a non-invasive method. However, its main weakness lies in the fact that it is not capable of giving an exact value, due to the fact that the normal value of the diameter of the optic nerve sheath for each person can vary significantly. The direct relationship between optic nerve sheath diameter and intracranial pressure is a fact that no author attempts to invalidate.

Conclusions:

Optic nerve ultrasound is a safe, affordable, non-invasive, easy-to-use method with a reliable predictive value to determine intracranial hypertension.

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