British journal of neurosurgery
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Comparative Study
Prothrombin complex concentrate for oral anticoagulant reversal in neurosurgical emergencies.
The incidence of spontaneous intracranial haemorrhage has increased markedly in line with the increased use of oral anticoagulant agents. Recent guidelines for reversal of this acquired coagulation defect in an emergency have been established, but they are not adhered to in all centres. Our unit is referred between 20 and 60 patients per year (1994-1999) who are anticoagulated and require urgent neurosurgical intervention. ⋯ Mean International Normalised Ratios of Group 1 were 4.86 pretreatment and 1.32 posttreatment, and of Group 2 were 5.32 and 2.30, respectively. Results for complete reversal and reversal time were significant for PCC with p < 0.001. We recommend PCC for rapid and effective reversal of warfarin in life-threatening neurosurgical emergencies.
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The cause and incidence of reductions in cerebral perfusion pressure, and rises in intracranial pressure have been examined in a series of patients with severe head injury defined as an initial Glasgow Coma Sum of less than or equal to 8. Two-hundred-and-seven adults (aged over 16 years) and 84 children admitted to Newcastle General Hospital, who had intracranial pressure monitoring as part of their routine management, were studied. Intracranial pressure (ICP), arterial pressure and cerebral perfusion pressure (CPP) were sampled and recorded every 2 min. ⋯ Diffuse Injury Type I stood out from all the other categories as the only one where reductions in perfusion pressure were almost exclusively due to reductions in arterial pressure and not to increases in ICP. The management of these patients should ensure the adequacy of perfusion pressure by maintaining arterial pressure at a satisfactory level. These results suggest that vigilant monitoring of both intracranial pressure and arterial pressure is required to lower the incidence of secondary insults.