Neurophysiological monitoring during intensive care and surgery

Neurophysiological Monitoring during Intensive Care and Surgery has been prepared by a team of international experts with a strong multidisciplinary team background in neuroanatomy and neurophysiology, with high standards of practical technological skills, and extensive experience in the clinical neurosciences. This innovative text will enable readers to understand how to undertake appropriate neurophysiological investigations in the critical care setting. The book addresses the scientific principles (biological and technological), recording techniques, the development of electrical potentials in normal subjects, and the ways these are disturbed by trauma, surgery and disease. The impact of digital technologies and the possibilities of quantification, statistical treatment and advanced signal processing techniques have enabled practitioners to work to more rigorous scientific standards. The increasing availability of such tools in daily clinical work means that patients can now benefit from investigations of known specificity and sensitivity. Growth in clinical applications is reflected by extended and well-referenced sections on EEG and EEG analysis, evoked potentials, nerve conduction studies and electromyographic techniques used for monitoring during intensive care and surgery. There are also balanced reviews of the choice of appropriate techniques for various clinical purposes, training of staff and medico-legal issues. Neurophysiological Monitoring during Intensive Care and Surgery provides a comprehensive guide for practising anaesthetists, surgeons, and clinical neurophysiologists, and should be useful to biomedical engineers involved in design of equipment and also for specialist ICU and operating room nurses.