Shedding a Little Light on the Need for Scheduled ICU Admission Following Endovascular Treatment of Unruptured Intracranial Aneurysm

Excerpt

By their nature, many neurological emergencies, particularly cerebrovascular emergencies, arise suddenly and without warning, typically requiring rapid diagnosis and intervention to have any chance to prevent permanent injury to life or limb. Despite numerous advances in neurological monitoring, the most reliable and effective tool to identify actual or impending neurological emergencies remains serial examinations performed by trained personnel. The United States Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services defines critical illness as one that “Acutely impairs one or more vital organ systems such that there is a high probability of imminent or life threatening deterioration in the patient’s condition” [1]. Because of the actual or perceived high risk of developing a delayed but acute, intervenable complication, patients have traditionally been monitored in an intensive care unit (ICU) following most elective intracranial procedures, including endovascular aneurysm treatment. …