Thu18November0317AM 4

Is it true that preconditions for brain stem testing include the following?

True / False

EEG to exclude seizures Correct

Waited two half lives if thiopentone has been administered Incorrect answer selected

Absence of doll's eye movement Correct

Absence of spinal reflexes Correct

Ventilated patient Correct

Explanation

Preconditions of brainstem testing include:

A known pathology causing irreversible brain damage - this may be intra- or extra-cranial

The patient must be unconscious and in a coma, and

The patient must be apnoeic, needing mechanical ventilation.

Hypothermia must be excluded and the patient's core temperature should be over 34°C.

There should be no evidence that the patient's state is secondary to drugs (depressant or neuromuscular blockade). Drug levels and antagonists may need to be used. If depressant drugs have been used, four half lives should have passed before testing.

Metabolic and endocrine disturbances must have been excluded.

Spinal reflexes may still be present despite brainstem death. The EEG is not a precondition and the absence of doll's eye movements is not used within the UK either as a precondition or as part of the test.:

Further reading:

Diagnosis of Death

Brain Stem Death - Diagnosis

Answer Statistics

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Average score: 76.97%

Times answered: 271