Emergence hypertension in patients undergoing intracranial surgery

Abstract

Systemic hypertension is a common accompaniment during emergence from anaesthesia following intracranial neurosurgical procedures and may predispose to development of intracranial hematoma. Although various drugs have been evaluated, management of peri-extubation hypertension in this subset of patients continues to be a challenge for anaesthesiologists. EMERGENCE HYPERTENSION IN NEUROSURGERY Major complications after intracranial surgery may be manifold. Of these, development of postoperative hematoma is of devastating consequence to ultimate outcome and has an incidence of 0.8%-2.2%1. The causes of development of such hematomas may be multiple2, but a commonly ascribed cause is the hemodynamic and metabolic perturbations that occur during recovery from anaesthesia.