Agbeko et al.

(2012)

United Kingdom

Pre-Post

N=8

Population: TBI; Mean Age=10.0yr; Gender: Male=7, Female=1; Mean GCS=5.3.

Intervention: Head elevation of patients was randomly increased or decreased by 10^o at a time up to a maximum of 40^o and down to a minimum of 0^o. Data was collected over 18 protocol sessions.

Outcome Measure: Intracranial Pressure (ICP) levels, Cerebral Perfusion Pressure (CPP) levels, Mean Arterial Pressure (MAP).

1.       ICP was significantly lower when head elevation was at a vertical height of 10 cm (p<0.001).

2.       CPP was not affected by head elevation (p=0.957). Only one patient experienced a significant change in CPP after an increase in head elevation (p=0.006), and in fact CPP increased.

3.       A negative correlation was reported between the magnitude of ICP response and baseline ICP, with a higher baseline ICP level associated with a lower magnitude of response (p=0.025).

4.       MAP declined 3.9 mmHg, demonstrating higher head elevations are associated with a decrease in MAP (p<0.001).