Frequent Neurological Assessment Alone May Justify Intensive Care for ICH

In a series of patients with intracerebral hemorrhage, approximately 10% received neurosurgical intervention because of postadmission changes in their neurological examination or imaging findings.

Observational studies suggest that neurological intensive care units (ICUs) improve outcomes after intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), and admission to such units is often justified by the need for close neurological monitoring. However, whether such monitoring affects care and outcomes — and therefore is a legitimate indication for ICU-level care — is unclear. To determine the effects of frequent neurological assessment on subsequent care, investigators prospectively assembled a cohort of patients admitted with spontaneous ICH to the neurological ICU of a tertiary care academic center between 2006 and 2012. Nurses administered the Glasgow Coma Scale hourly and the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale on admission and 12 hours after admis…

Reviewing Author

Hooman Kamel, MD

Disclosures

Speaker’s bureauGenentech

Grant / Research supportNational Institutes of Health/National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke; Michael Goldberg Stroke Research Fund

Editorial boardsPLOS One; Scientific Reports

Leadership positions in professional societiesNeurocritical Care Society (Research Committee Member)

Hooman Kamel, MD

Disclosures

Speaker’s bureauGenentech

Grant / Research supportNational Institutes of Health/National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke; Michael Goldberg Stroke Research Fund

Editorial boardsPLOS One; Scientific Reports

Leadership positions in professional societiesNeurocritical Care Society (Research Committee Member)

Frequent Neurological Assessment Alone May Justify Intensive Care for ICH

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Reviewing Author