Many different conditions can cause increased intracranial pressure (ICP); identify two. What are the early signs and symptoms of increased ICP? What will you look for in a patient to help determine if they have increased ICP?

Two causes of increased intracranial pressure (ICP) could be a brain hemorrhage and cerebral edema. Some early signs and symptoms include severe headache, vomiting, papilledema. By assessing their pupils and vital signs, you can determine if somebody has increased intracranial pressure with the additional symptoms of a severe headache and vomiting. When looking through the eye’s pupil at the retina with the optical nerve, there is swelling of the part of the optic nerve inside the eye (optic disc) (NIH, 2016).

5. Describe how vital signs change from early increased ICP to later stages. 

Systematic blood pressure rises and slows heart rate during the early stages of increased intracranial pressure (ICP) (VanMeter & Hubert 2018 p.342). Some later vital sign changes of ICP are a decrease in blood pressure, decrease in heart rate, decrease in respiratory rate (VanMeter & Hubert 2018 p.343).  Moreover, ICP continues severe ischemia in neurological death prevent circulation control which results in the decrease in blood pressure and decreasing heart rate (VanMeter & Hubert 2018 p.343). 

6. Which is more critical: a lesion in the brainstem or the cerebral hemisphere? Using pathophysiology, explain why.

A lesion on the brainstem is more critical as it may affect motor and sensory fibers resulting in widespread impairment (VanMeter & Hubert 2018 p.338). This is called an infratentorial lesion. The brainstem is a bundle of nerves, and this can affect “respiratory and circulatory function in the level of consciousness may be impaired by a small lesion in this area” (VanMeter & Hubert 2018 p.338). 

References

BrainandSpinalCord.org. (2021). Flaccid Paralysis. Retrieved October 25, 2021, from https://www.brainandspinalcord.org/flaccid-paralysis/