Use and misuse of transcranial Doppler

Abstract

Transcranial Doppler, in the same way as the ultrasonographic examination of other organs, has become an essential part of the management of critical patients. It is useful for the diagnosis of vasospasm after a subarachnoid haemorrhage, in the search for intracranial hypertension or the search for poor prognosis factors after a traumatic brain injury, or in the search for cerebral circulatory arrest. However, this examination can only be conceived as a complement to the clinical examination and the radiographic assessment, and although it is easy to obtain values, their interpretation requires a minimum of physiopathological knowledge and experience.