ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the health issues related to the central nervous system. It also explains the pathophysiology, management, preoperative assessment, monitoring, and anaesthetic techniques for the same. These issues include autonomic dysreflexia, brain-stem death, disease of the neuromuscular junction, epilepsy, head injury, inflammatory brain disease, multiple sclerosis, parkinson's disease, peripheral neuropathies, primary neuromuscular disease, spinal cord injury and subarachnoid haemorrhage. Autonomic dysreflexia is a medical emergency seen in patients with spinal cord injuries at or above T6. Brain-stem death is a clinical state where irreversible cessation of the integral function of the brain-stem can be equated to the death of the individual and allow a medical practitioner to diagnose death. The blood-brain barrier is effective in reducing the exposure of the brain to many chemicals but it is not able to prevent the chronic effects of neuroinflammation. Increased oxidative stress has been implicated in many neurological conditions.
