ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses: traumatic brain injury, diabetes insipidus, spinal cord injury, autonomic dysreflexia, epilepsy, and intracranial haemorrhage. The spinal cord forms the lowest part of the central nervous system, and so damage affects function of all systems and organs regulated by nerves below the injury. The direct trauma from head injury by central nervous system infection or raised intracranial pressure can cause pituitary damage. Complications and death from patients admitted with central nervous system injury is usually caused by hypoxia or cerebral ischaemia, so immediate priorities are: airway and breathing, cardiovascular, and disability. Primary damage is largely irreversible, so focus of treatment should be preventing secondary damage. Immediate priorities are preserving life: airway, breathing, circulation, and disability. Airway obstruction may be caused directly by trauma or impaired consciousness. Traumatic brain injury is the most common cause of death and injury in people under the age of 40. Preventing pain has humanitarian and physiological benefits, as stress responses increase intracranial pressure.
