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Improving Traumatic Brain Injury Outcomes: Early Identification And Management Of Paroxysmal Sympathetic Hyperactivity, Randi Rockwell
Improving Traumatic Brain Injury Outcomes: Early Identification And Management Of Paroxysmal Sympathetic Hyperactivity, Randi Rockwell
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Abstract
Background: Paroxysmal sympathetic hyperactivity (PSH) can occur in patients with acutely acquired brain injury and is associated with mortality, poor clinical outcomes, prolonged hospitalizations, physical disability, and increased healthcare costs. The most common cause of PSH syndrome is traumatic brain injury (TBI). Symptoms consist of hyperthermia, diaphoresis, arterial hypertension, tachycardia, tachypnea, and extremity motor dystonic posturing, often in response to evoked stimuli and occurs in 8% to 33% of TBI patients. Critical care nurses are at the forefront of providing direct patient care to TBI patients and are often the first to identify PSH.
Purpose: The objective of this …