ICP Monitoring

[spols7]

Question ICP Monitoring

Hello

I am new to this forum but not new to Hydrocephalus. I actually have two kids with vp shunts. My yougest who just turned 6 has been having severe headaches since Dec 20 some with nausea and vomiting. On MRI one ventricle has almost collapsed around the shunt but the other side looks normal. They tried to adjust her programmable shunt but headaches continue. They are not sure of pressure too low or too high . They mentioned the antisiphon device as something that they could use if too low. Now they want her to come to Hopkins on Thursday and have icp monitoring for a few days. Of course I am nervous for the procedure and upset to put her through something but hate for her to feel bad too. Has anyone gone through this?

[UTC12]

Sorry to hear that you daughter is having so much trouble. When they do an ICP study, they are looking to see what the pressures are inside of her brain. They insert a little wire that will read the ICP. This way, they can monitor her pressures when she is moving around and what happens when she is in different positions.

[GTF]

I've had that procedure done twice.
They cut a small hole in the scalp and drill a hole through the skull and screw in what is called, "The Bolt"
That's because it looks like a bolt from your car with a small hole drilled through it's center.
That they place a small probe through the bolt to just under the skull and it runs to a machine on the IV pole to record the pressure on a roll of paper.
Other then the surgical procedure itself it doesn't hurt. I like flipping people out, so I would take my IV pole and walk around the hospital ward grabbing the bolt with one hand and shaking my head playing like the mummy.
After they collect enough information removal is a snap. Pull out the probe, unscrew the bolt out of the skull and put a band-aid on the cut.
The wire can be a bit tricky when trying to sleep unless your like me and only sleep flat on my back without turning over.
It really isn't a big deal.
Like I said I had it done twice and it's a minor procedure.