Direct Brain Cooling in Treating Severe Traumatic Head Injury

Abstract

There are scientific evidences that hypothermia provides a strong neuroprotective effect on the brain following traumatic insults. In this chapter, we describe the pathophysiology of severe head injury with emphasis on benefits of hypothermia. To support these hypothetical or theoretical benefits, we describe our previous study with very encouraging findings done on severe head injuries, treated with direct focal brain cooling, and monitored with intracranial pressure, cerebral perfusion pressure, brain oxygenation, and brain temperature. This chapter ends with our current and still ongoing study in which one of its main objectives is to innovate a direct focal brain cooling machine. This chapter briefly explains the technical part of this cooling machine.

Systematic review exploring the effect of therapeutic hypothermia on patients with intracranial hypertension

“…[ 22 ] IHT is found in patients with various neurological and neurosurgical conditions such as subarachnoid hemorrhage (more than 50% of the patients have ICP > 20 mmHg at some point during their hospital stay), Traumatic Brain Injury, stroke, etc. [ 18 ] The mechanism of IHT is different in various conditions, for example, in brain tumor, it is due to an increase in neoplastic tissue,[ 14 ] in subarachnoid hemorrhage, it is due to pooled blood inside the brain due to ruptured blood vessels,[ 1 , 11 , 19 ] in traumatic brain injury, it is because of brain tissue injury and inflammatory process,[ 12 , 13 ] and in ischemic stroke, it is due to cerebral edema after the inflammatory process. ICP within the normal range in neurosciences patients is considered a major factor toward better recovery and with the increase in the ICP more than 20 mmHg mortality rate increases.…”