increased icp and blood pressure

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t seems to me that when ICP is increased the blood pressure should be decreasing. And if it was the other way, increase bp leads to decrease ICP. I based my thoughts on the monroe kelley theory. However, during the late stage.... (either when the brain is already herniating or if the ICP has been consistently too high for a while) cushings triad occurs. In here, it seems like the the blood pressure is increasing while the ICP is also elevated, which contradicts my earlier thoughts. Perhaps, you can light.

Another thought - an early sign of a neuro problem (increased ICP) is altered level of consciousness, yet an early sign of brain herniation (which is a late event resulting from increase icp) is also altered level of consciousness. How do I, as a nurse, determine (other than a CT/MRI scan) what my patient is experiencing? Lastly, if a person is experiencing some neuro problem, and through our assessment we can determine that the patient is indeed experiencing a neuro problem, would one of the first actions we do include ensuring patient has patent airway?

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sounds like you're a little confused here. "when icp is increased the blood pressure should be decreasing. and if it was the other way, increase bp leads to decrease icp."

increased intracranial pressure will initially cause the body to increase bp in an attempt to improve intracranial blood flow. as icp builds, if it gets bad enough, pressure on the bp-regulating parts of the brain make them start to fail, pressure in the cranium exceeds the bp's ability to perfuse inside it so it becomes hypoxic and acidotic, causing the intracranial vessels to (try to) dilate, making it even more crowded inside the skull. bp falls. this is a late sign, and a very bad one, when the body is unable to perfuse the brain and its regulatory functions no longer operate.

the way you know what to do involves more than just measuring bp, pulse, and icp. level of consciousness is not reliable as a stand-alone sign because it can be affected by so very many things. you have to put a lot of different puzzle parts together to know what is going on. history, mechanism of injury? are pupils reactive? are there focal signs? has loc changed, or does it fluctuate? what about breathing pattern and bp trends? nausea? headache? posturing? diagnostic imaging? labs? blood gases?

oh, yes, airway is always first. elevated co2 levels dilate intracranial vessels, making icp higher. often we hyperventilate people like this to keep their co2 artificially low for this reason.

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Your awesome, Grntea! Thank you thank you!

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what affects icp? can anyone help me. thx

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Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.
what affects icp? can anyone help me. thx

are you a student? What semester are you?

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what affects icp? can anyone help me. thx

Not to put too fine a point on it but the answers to your question appear above. If you have questions about it, tell us what is unclear/confusing/etc. and we will do our best to help you.

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ICP ? How do you reduce it, due to Opioid use in order to maintain analgesia for the patient

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What does that mean? The original question (from five years ago, even) gives an excellent review of ICP regulation by grntea who myst have changed his name, or nurseprnrn whose name used to be grntea, or something. Whatever. Could you clarify how opioid use comes into your question?

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