Intracranial pressure monitoring in comatose children

Coma may be associated with raised intracranial pressure (ICP), with a causative relationship in some cases. ICP monitoring provides an objective measurement of intracranial pressure and allows the ICP response to specific interventions to be directly observed. A combination of ICP and invasive arterial pressure monitoring provides a measure of the cerebral perfusion pressure (CPP), which is an important parameter in determining cerebral blood flow. Despite widespread use of ICP monitoring in certain causes of coma, most notably traumatic brain injury, the use of ICP monitoring is not proven to improve outcome in any cause of coma. This review explores the current medical literature regarding the uses of ICP monitoring in the paediatric population.