Survey of intensive care of severely head injured patients in the United Kingdom

OBJECTIVES: To study practice in intensive care of patients with severe head injury in neurosurgical referral centres in United Kingdom. DESIGN: Structured telephone interview of senior nursing staff in intensive care unit of adult neurosurgical referral centre. SETTING: 39 intensive care units in hospitals that accepted acute head injuries for specialist neurosurgical management, identified from Medical Directory and information from professional bodies. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Details of organisation and administration of intensive care and patterns of monitoring and treatment for patients admitted with severe head injury. RESULTS: Patients were managed in specialist neurosurgical intensive care units in 21 of the centres and in general intensive care units in 18. Their intensive care was coordinated by an anaesthetist in 25 units and by a neurosurgeon in 12. Annual case-load varied between units: 20 received > 100 patients, 12 received 50-100, and seven received 25-49. Monitoring and treatment varied considerably between centres. Invasive arterial pressure monitoring was used routinely in 36 units, but central venous pressure monitoring was routinely used in 24 and intracranial pressure was routinely monitored in only 19. Corticosteroids were used to treat intracranial hypertension in 19 units. Seventeen units routinely aimed for arterial carbon dioxide pressure of 3.3-4.0 kPa, and one unit still used severe hyperventilation to a pressure of < 3.3 kPa. CONCLUSION: The intensive care of patients with acute head injuries varied widely between the centres surveyed. Rationalisation of the intensive care of severe head injury with the production of widely accepted guidelines ought to improve the quality of care.