Continuous monitoring of cerebral tissue pressure in neurosurgical practice--experiences with 100 patients.

The authors present their experience with the use of continuous monitoring of cerebral tissue pressure (CTP) in a neurosurgical intensive care unit. The CTP was monitored in 100 patients with a variety of neurosurgical diseases. In 13 patients simultaneous recording of the ventricular fluid pressure (VFP) was carried out for up to 134 h. In 21 patients intrahemispheric gradients of CTP were recorded and in 66 patients CTP alone was recorded (59 supratentorial, 7 infratentorial). In general CTP monitoring gave excellent results with no additional risk to the patient and low costs for the monitoring system. The behaviour of CTP in various clinical conditions and the indications and limitations of CTP monitoring compared with VFP or epidural pressure monitoring are outlined. The authors recommend monitoring of VFP as the method of choice in ICP supervision. Continuous monitoring of CTP is the preferred method in the posterior fossa, after large craniectomies, for postoperative supervision following open surgery and in cases of narrowed ventricles.