Neonatal Neurocritical Care: Providing Brain-Focused Care for All at Risk Neonates

Neonatal neurocritical care is an evolving subsubspecialty whose goal is to implement neuroprotective care strategies, continuous bedside monitoring of neurologic function, and therapies in order to reduce the risk of neurologic injury and improve long-term neurodevelopmental outcomes in neonates who require intensive care. The provision of neonatal neurocritical care requires a culture change across a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) in which equal importance is placed on the neurologic care and the cardiorespiratory care of a given patient. It is a multidisciplinary framework of care in which neonatologist and pediatric neurologist come together to address the unique needs of NICU patients whose brains are still developing and are vulnerable to injury. Advances in bedside brain monitoring techniques and the use of therapeutic hypothermia for Hupoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy have accelerated the development of NeuroNICUs across the United States and abroad. Neonatologists, neurologists, neurophysiologists, nurses, and other ancillary members of the team work together to develop guidelines for commonly encountered neurological conditions in the NICU. The use of these guidelines helps provide standardized care across a unit and can reduce morbidity and length of hospital stay.