Description
There are relationships that exist between neuroanesthesia,neurosurgical procedures, individual patient pathology and thepositioning of a patient for said procedure. A comprehensiveexamination of these relationships, their association with patientmorbidity/mortality and how to approach these issues in anevidence-based manner has yet to become available. Positioning relatedinjuries have been documented as major contributors toneurosurgical/neuroanesthesiology liability.Thistext examines these relationships. It provides considerations necessaryto the correct positioning of a patient for a neurosurgical procedurefor each individual patient and their individual pathology. In otherwords, this text will demonstrate how to construct the necessarysurgical posture for the indicated neurosurgical procedure given theindividual constraints of the patient within the environment ofanesthesia and conforming to existing evidence-based practiceguidelines. Sections will address physiological changes inherent inpositioning in relation to anesthesia for neurosurgical procedures,assessment of patient for planned procedure, as well as considerationsfor managing problems associated with these relationships. Additionalsections will examine the relationship between neurosurgical positioningand medical malpractice and the biomechanical science betweenpositioning devices and neurosurgical procedures.Neurosurgeryand its patient population are in a constant state of change.Providing the necessary considerations for the neurosurgical procedureplanned under the anesthesia conditions planned in the position planned,often in the absence of multicase study literary support, withoutincurring additional morbidity is the goal of this text.
