A look at recent hyperventilation studies: outcomes and recommendations for early use in the head-injured patient.

During the past decade, mounting controversy surrounding the use of hyperventilation for the treatment of head injury has raised concerns about its safety and therapeutic benefits. A recent investigation of the medical literature was conducted to determine if outcomes for the head-injured patient continued to support the use of indiscriminate, and often unmonitored, hyperventilation in the pre-hospital and early hospital phases of care, and to determine if current investigators are recommending the use of hyperventilation for the initial treatment of all unconscious head-injured patients. Findings suggest that head-injured patients in the pre-hospital and early phases of care are at increased risk for suffering hyperventilation-induced secondary brain injury. Current researchers are now recommending a highly monitored, cautions and selective approach to care; this approach calls our current practice into question.