Anesthesia for neurosurgery

Abstract

The patient who requires neurosurgery sets many problems for the anesthesiologist. Some of these relate to the disordered physiology caused by neurosurgical disease and some to the special requirements of neurosurgery. The brain is in a unique position, being confined within a rigid closed box (the skull), and its function depends on the maintenance of the cerebral circulation within that restricted space. Disease and injury interfere with the control of the cerebral circulation in ways that predispose to cerebral ischemia and therefore cerebral damage.