The nurse should assess the patient whose right pupil is 10 mm and unresponsive to light.
<h3>What are Acute Intracranial Problems?</h3>
- Chronic conditions and disorders that can raise intracranial pressure (ICP) are examples of acute intracranial problems.
- Brain tissue, blood, and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) make up the three essential volume components of the skull, which is shaped like a closed box.
- Another main point in understanding ICP is primary versus secondary damage.
- When an injury (such as the impact of a vehicle accident or blunt-force trauma) results in displacement, bruising, or damage to the three components, it is said to have suffered a primary injury.
- Following the main damage, there may be secondary injury in the form of hypoxia, ischemia, hypotension, edema, or elevated ICP. When treating brain injury, secondary injury, which may happen several hours to days after the initial injury, is the main concern.
<h3>What is Intracranial Pressure (ICP)?</h3>
- The hydrostatic force detected in the CSF compartment of the brain is known as intracranial pressure (ICP).
- The balance between the three elements—brain tissue, blood, and CSF—maintains the ICP under typical circumstances in which intracranial volume is relatively constant.
- Changes in (1) arterial pressure, (2) venous pressure, (3) intraabdominal and intrathoracic pressure, (4) posture, (5) temperature, and (6) blood gases, notably carbon dioxide levels, all have an impact on ICP under normal conditions.
<h3>What is Cerebral Blood Flow (CBF)?</h3>
- The amount of blood in milliliters that passes through 100 g of brain tissue in 1 minute is known as cerebral blood flow (CBF).
- The average CBF per 100 g of brain tissue is 50 mL per minute. B
- The maintenance of blood flow to the brain is essential because it needs a steady supply of glucose and oxygen.
- 20% of the body's oxygen and 25% of its glucose are used by the brain.
- The pressure required to ensure blood flow to the brain is known as the cerebral perfusion pressure (CPP).
<h3>Effects after Increased Intracranial Pressure:</h3>
- An increase in any or all of the three elements (brain tissue, blood, or CSF) within the skull causes increased ICP, a potentially fatal condition.
- In addition to lowering CPP (cerebral perfusion pressure), elevated ICP raises the risk of brain ischemia and infarction and is linked to a bad prognosis.
- A mass (such as a hematoma, contusion, abscess, or tumor) and cerebral edema are frequent causes of elevated ICP (associated with brain tumors, hydrocephalus, head injury, or brain inflammation).
- There is good compliance in stage 1. The accommodation and autoregulation processes in the brain are fully functioning in compensation.
- The patient is at risk for increasing ICP and subsequent damage during stage 2 because the compliance, which refers to the brain's expandability, is starting to decline.
- At stage 3, compliance has significantly decreased. Any tiny volume increase significantly raises ICP. Failure of compensatory mechanisms results in a lack of autoregulation, and the patient displays signs of an elevated ICP (e.g., headache, changes in level of consciousness or pupil responsiveness).
- Systolic hypertension with a widening pulse pressure, bradycardia with a full and bounding pulse, and changed respirations are the hallmarks of the patient's response. This is a neurologic emergency and is referred to as Cushing's triad.
- The ICP barely increases in volume as the patient moves into stage 4 and reaches deadly values.
- The brainstem is under extreme pressure in this instance, and brainstem death is imminent if the herniation persists.
- Additional clinical symptoms compression of the oculomotor nerve, unilateral dilated pupils, slow or negligible response to light, inability to raise the eye, eyelid ptosis are observed.
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Disclaimer: The question was given incomplete on the portal. Here is the complete question.
Question: After the emergency department nurse has received a status report on the following patients who have been admitted with head injuries, which patient should the nurse assess first?
a. A 20-year-old patient whose cranial x-ray shows a linear skull fracture.
b. A 30-year-old patient who has an initial Glasgow Coma Scale score of 13.
c. A 40-year-old patient who lost consciousness for a few seconds after a fall.
d. A 50-year-old patient whose right pupil is 10 mm and unresponsive to light.
