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Poor postoperative outcomes may be associated with cerebral ischaemia or hyperaemia, caused by episodes of arterial blood pressure (ABP) being outside the range of cerebral autoregulation (CA). Monitoring CA using COx (correlation between slow changes in mean ABP and regional cerebral O 2 saturation-rSO 2 ) could allow to individualise the management of ABP to preserve CA. We aimed to explore a continuous automated assessment of ABP OPT (ABP where CA is best preserved) and ABP at the lower limit of autoregulation (LLA) in elective neurosurgery patients. Retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data of 85 patients [median age 60 (IQR 51-68)] undergoing elective neurosurgery. ABP BASELINE was the mean of 3 pre-operative non-invasive measurements. ABP and rSO 2 waveforms were processed to estimate COx-derived ABP OPT and LLA trend-lines. We assessed: availability (number of patients where ABP OPT /LLA were available); time required to achieve first values; differences between ABP OPT /LLA and ABP. ABP OPT and LLA availability was 86 and 89%. Median (IQR) time to achieve the first value was 97 (80-155) and 93 (78-122) min for ABP OPT and LLA respectively. Median ABP OPT [75 (69-84)] was lower than ABP BASELINE [90 (84-95)] (p < 0.001, Mann-U test). Patients spent 72 (56-86) % of recorded time with ABP above or below ABP OPT  ± 5 mmHg. ABP OPT and ABP time trends and variability were not related to each other within patients. 37.6% of patients had at least 1 hypotensive insult (ABP < LLA) during the monitoring time. It seems possible to assess individualised automated ABP targets during elective neurosurgery., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Non-invasive measurement of ICP (nICP) can be warranted in patients at risk for developing increased ICP during pneumoperitoneum (PP). Our aim was to assess available data on the application of nICP monitoring during these procedures and to present a patient assessed with an innovative combination of noninvasive tools. Literature review of nICP assessment during PP did not find any studies comparing different methods intraprocedurally and only few studies of any nICP monitoring were available: transcranial Doppler (TCD) studies used the pulsatility index (PI) as an estimator of ICP and failed to detect a significant ICP increase during PP, whereas two out of three optic nerve sheath diameter (ONSD) studies detected a statistically significant ICP increase. In the case study, we describe a 52 year old man with a high grade thalamic glioma who underwent urgent laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Considering the high intraoperative risk of developing intracranial hypertension, he was monitored through parallel ONSD ultrasound measurement and TCD derived formulae (flow velocity diastolic formula, FVdnICP, and PI). ONSD and FVdnICP methods indicated a significant ICP increase during PP, whereas PI was not significantly increased. Our experience, combined with the literature review, seems to suggest that PI might not detect ICP changes in this context, however we indicate a possible interest of nICP monitoring during PP by means of ONSD and of TCD derived FVdNICP, especially for patients at risk for increased ICP.