Perioperative care of the patient with traumatic head injury

In summary, although the prognosis for the severely head-injured patient may be poor, there are a multitude of techniques available to the anesthetist for minimizing the occurrence of secondary head injury. Aggressive resuscitative efforts toward maintaining homeostasis must be directed at cardiovascular and neurological systems. Sound knowledge of physiologic principles and the clinical application of these principles are essential to the safe management of a patient who has sustained traumatic head injury.