[Problems of pressure control for continuous external ventricular drainage: a study on tube pattern of automatic...

The control of fluid pressure during continuous ventricular drainage was reevaluated by hydromechanical analysis. Auditory meatuses form a good datum plane for the measurement of the fluid height in the ventricular drainage tube. The arrangement of the drainage tubes should not only restrict ventricular pressure of stable state to physiological range, but also have buffer effect on fluctuations of the pressure. The height of the peak point and that of the tube end are both primary factors controlling ventricular fluid pressure. If tube end or central section of the tube is laid too low, the ventricular fluid pressure could decrease markedly under certain situations. An ideal pattern of the tube arrangement was proposed in the paper.