Fluid percussion brain injury in the developing and adult rat: a comparative study of mortality, morphology, intracranial pressure and mean arterial blood pressure

Background The current study investigates the effects of morphine and fentanyl upon intracranial pressure and cerebral blood flow estimated by cerebral arteriovenous oxygen content difference and transcranial Doppler sonography in 30 consecutive patients with severe head injury in whom cerebrovascular autoregulation previously had been assessed. Methods Patients received morphine (0.2 mg/kg) and fentanyl (2 microg/kg) intravenously over 1 min but 24 h apart in a randomized fashion. Before study, carbon dioxide reactivity and autoregulation were assessed. Intracranial pressure, mean arterial blood pressure, and cerebral perfusion pressure were repeatedly monitored for 1 h after the administration of both opioids. Cerebral blood flow was estimated from the reciprocal of arteriovenous oxygen content difference and middle cerebral artery mean flow velocity using transcranial Doppler sonography. Results Although carbon dioxide reactivity was preserved in all patients, 18 patients (56.7%) showed impaired or abolished autoregulation to hypertensive challenge, and only 12 (43.3%) had preserved autoregulation. Both morphine and fentanyl caused significant increases in intracranial pressure and decreases in mean arterial blood pressure and cerebral perfusion pressure, but estimated cerebral blood flow remain unchanged. In patients with preserved autoregulation, opioid-induced intracranial pressure increases were not different than in those with impaired autoregulation. Conclusions The authors conclude that both morphine and fentanyl moderately increase intracranial pressure and decrease mean arterial blood pressure and cerebral perfusion pressure but have no significant effect on arteriovenous oxygen content difference and middle cerebral artery mean flow velocity in patients with severe brain injury. No differences on intracranial pressure changes were found between patients with preserved and impaired autoregulation. Our results suggest that other mechanisms, besides the activation of the vasodilatory cascade, also could be implicated in the intracranial pressure increases seen after opioid administration.

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Haemodynamic and Cerebrovascular Responses to Glycerol Infusion in Dogs

Clinical Science ◽

10.1042/cs0770535 ◽

1989 ◽

Vol 77 (5) ◽

pp. 535-539 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Jiann-Liang Chen ◽

Yeou-Chih Wang ◽

Jia-Yi Wang

Keyword(s):

Blood Pressure ◽

Intracranial Pressure ◽

Cell Volume ◽

Arterial Blood Pressure ◽

Mean Arterial Blood Pressure ◽

Packed Cell Volume ◽

Vessel Diameter ◽

Serum Osmolarity ◽

Arterial Blood ◽

Pial Vessel

1. The response of cerebral blood vessels to hyperosmolar agents in vivo remains controversial, and little is known about the effect of glycerol on cerebral vessels. In this study we investigated the cerebrovascular response to intravenous administration of glycerol (1 g/kg, infused over 25 min) in dogs under pentobarbital anaesthesia. 2. Intracranial pressure, systemic arterial pressure, mean arterial blood pressure, serum osmolarity and packed cell volume were continuously monitored, and blood gases were checked frequently. Through a parietal cranial window, pial vessel diameter was measured by means of a surgical microscope and a video image-analyser. 3. Pial vessel diameter increased gradually with a maximum at 30 min after the beginning of glycerol infusion. The maximum increase in diameter in small (< 100 μm) vessels was 14.3%, whereas that in large (> 100 μm) vessels was 10.3%. There was only a slight increase (< 4%) in pial vessel diameter in vehicle-infused animals. The intracranial pressure decreased drastically after glycerol infusion, whereas the mean arterial blood pressure remained constant. There were correlations between the rise in serum osmolarity, fall in packed cell volume and vasodilatation, indicating that glycerol caused vasodilatation accompanied by plasma volume expansion. 4. Our data suggest that glycerol produces cerebral vasodilatation, which might be beneficial in cerebral ischaemia and vasospasm, in addition to its intracranial pressure-reducing effect on normal or oedematous brain. The degree of vasodilatation was not sufficient to affect the predominant intracranial pressure drop resulting from cerebral dehydration.

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