Article Text
Abstract
Objectives: To determine the statistical characteristics of blood pressure readings from a large number of head injured patients.
Methods: The BrainIT group have collected high resolution physiological and clinical data from head injured patients who require intracranial pressure monitoring. From the data collected we have examined the statistical features of this very large data set of blood pressure readings. Data from 200 patients recruited to the BrainIT study and over 1.6 million observations were examined. The distributions of the blood pressure readings and their relationship with simultaneous intracranial pressure (ICP) measurements are described.
Results: The distributions of mean, systolic and diastolic readings are close to normal although there is a tendency for them all to be skewed at higher values. There was a slight trend towards an increase in blood pressure in advancing age but this was not significant. Simultaneous blood pressure and ICP values show a change in the relationship at and ICP of 35mmHg and again at 55mmHg.
Conclusions: Patients with head injury appear to have a near normal distribution of blood pressure readings that are skewed at higher values. Patients in this study appear be managed at cerebral perfusion pressures of between 55 and 70mmHg
- BrainIT
- blood pressure
- head injury
- intracranial pressure