Brain Tissue Oxygen Monitoring in Neurocritical Care

Abstract

Avoidance of secondary cerebral hypoxia/ischemia is a mainstay of therapy in neurocritical care. On-line monitoring of brain tissue oxygen tension (PbtO2) enables detection of secondary brain hypoxic/ischemic insults and targeting of therapeutic interventions, such as intracranial pressure (ICP) control, cerebral perfusion pressure (CPP) augmentation, blood transfusion, and ventilation. Emerging evidence shows that compared to standard ICP/CPP management, PbtO2-directed therapy may improve outcomes of selected populations of brain-injured patients. Larger prospective multicenter trials are underway to further evaluate the potential benefit of PbtO2-directed therapy.