Neurologic Emergencies Flashcards
most common causes of Traumatic Brain Injury
The most common causes of TBI in veterinary patients include motor vehicle accidents, falls, missile injury, and intra/interspecies aggression
is there much you can do to treat primary injury?
nope, initial impact is unchangeable
Definition of primary injury
mechanical deformation to the calvarium and intracranial contents. Severity of injury is a function of the degree of impact
define concussion:
microscopic damage, often more widespread, functional problem
define contusion:
macroscopic damage, often more localized, a
bruise, functional and physical problem
define coup:
site of impact
define countercoup:
contralateral site of injury, usually less
define laceration:
physical disruption of the neuropil
define fracture:
physical disruption of the calvarium
Examples of primary brain injury:
Concussion, contusion, laceration, fracture, hemorrhage
Can you treat secondary injury to the brain?
YES this is what we aim to treat
Examples of secondary brain injury
ischemia, edema, excitotoxicity, acidosis, free radical production/oxidation - cytotoxic
what does ischemia result in?
neuronal dysfunction
what does edema result in?
vasogenic: white matter damage
cytotoxic: white and grey matter
interstitial: csf obstruction
what does excitotoxicity result in?
continual firing leading to overstimulation and cellular death
Importance of Increased Intra-cranial pressure
- dec. cerebral blood flow causing hypoxic/ischemic injury
- brain herniation
What is the Monro-Kellie hypothesis?
The cranial vault is incompressible and contains a fixed volume with the intracranial contents at volume equilibrium. An increase in one must be compensated for by a decrease in volume of another.
What is the Cerebral Perfusion Pressure?
CPP is the difference between the mean arterial blood pressure and the intracranial pressure
What range of MABP (mean arterial blood pressure) do you need to maintain CPP in autoregulation?
50-150 mmHg
What is status epilepticus?
a generalized seizure lasting >5 minutes or a series of generalized seizures without intervening periods of normal consciousness.
Causes of status epilepticus
Metabolic encephalopathy Toxins Intracranial neoplasia Encephalitis Vascular incident Idiopathic epilepsy