When a child suffers a head trauma, medical professionals are in high gear to prevent further damage to a developing brain. Measuring and regulating the child’s level of carbon dioxide is critical to ensuring the brain is getting enough blood oxygen to prevent a secondary brain injury. High carbon dioxide can increase intracranial pressure, while a low level is associated with poor brain circulation.
The Harborview Injury Prevention and Research Center (HIPRC) developed a protocol for a standardized response to these events. The guidelines, released earlier this year, are used at Harborview Medical Center, the region’s Level I pediatric trauma center where about 120 pediatric brain-trauma patients receive care each year.
But there are no guidelines on whether a noninvasive method of measuring carbon dioxide from patients’ exhalations, known as end-tidal capnography, is as effective as drawing blood through a child’s artery.
In a study published Aug. 16 in JAMA, HIPRC researchers answered that clinical question: Measuring the carbon dioxide level through an artery is still the most accurate diagnostic for pediatric brain trauma.
Read more at University of Washington School of Medicine
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