Analysis of the response to therapeutic measures to reduce intracranial pressure in head injured patients.

Five methods of therapy for increased ICP were used in the treatment of 32 head-injured patients. The effects of steroids could not be evaluated. Withdrawal of CSF was always effective because intracranial volume was reduced and pressure must follow, but because of brain swelling and collapse of the ventricular system in this group of patients, it was not an effective permanent form of therapy. Hypertonic Mannitol reduced ICP in nearly every case irrespective of the degree of brain damage or the height of ICP. Hyperventilation was least effective in the most severely ill patients, presumably due to the non-responsiveness of the cerebral vessels to changes in PaCO2. The poorest response of ICP seemed to be with hypothermia.