[Sedation in neurointensive care unit]

The objectives for using sedation in neurointensive care unit (neuroICU) are somewhat different from those used for patients without severe brain injuries. One goal is to clinically reassess the neurological function following the initial brain insult in order to define subsequent strategies for diagnosis and treatment. Another goal is to prevent severely injured brain from additional aggravation of cerebral blood perfusion and intracranial pressure. Depending on these situations is the choice of sedatives and analgesics: short-term agents, e.g., remifentanil, if a timely neurological reassessment is required, long-term agents, e.g., midazolam and sufentanil, as part of the treatment for elevated intracranial pressure. In that situation, a multimodal monitoring is needed to overcome the lack of clinical monitoring, including repeated measurements of intracranial pressure, blood flow velocities (transcranial Doppler), cerebral oxygenation (brain tissue oxygen tension), and brain imaging. The ultimate stop of neurosedation can distinguish between no consciousness and an alteration of arousing in brain-injured patients. During this period, an elevation of intracranial pressure is usual, and should not always result in reintroducing the neurosedation.