Resumen

TICI HERNANDEZ, Bertha; MONTEJO MONTEJO, José  y  GUTIERREZ MUNOZ, Fredy. Behavior of intracranial pressure in children with severe cranioencephalic traumatism. Rev Cubana Enfermer [online]. 2005, vol.21, n.3, pp. 1-1. ISSN 1561-2961.

Severe cranioencephalic traumatism in children is related to a high percentage of mortality and sequelae. A descriptive and retrospective study was conducted to assess the behavior of intracranial pressure in children with this traumatism in a period of 4 years, from 1999 to 2003. The sample consisted of 58 patients, all the children admitted with this affection in the studied period. Data were taken from the medical histories to characterize it. The age group 11-15 and the male sex were the predominant particularities. The traffic accidents and the falls from high places were the most frequent causes. Glasgow's coma scale was between 6 and 8 points in 38 children. The values of intracranial pressure with the highest incidence were those under 15 mm Hg in 42 children (72.4 %), whereas the prevailing value of brain perfusion pressure was over 70 mm Hg in 27 patients (46.6 %). The most relevant factor of brain damage was the fever observed in 49 patients (84.5 %). 41 children were discharged alive, accounting for 70.7 %. It was corroborated that the importance of nursing care in the control of intracranial pressure in this type of affection lies on the good management of the factors associated with the neurological damage that aggravate the children's conditions, on the contribution to the clinical evolution of these children and on the communication of the observed changes.

Palabras clave : Severe cranioencephalic traumatism,; intracranial pressure; brain perfusion pressure..

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