Clinical Manifestations of Increased Intracranial Pressure

The clinical manifestations of increased intracranial pressure are the contents that need to be paid attention to.

Let us expand on the clinical manifestations of increased intracranial pressure.

Clinical manifestations:

Headache + nausea and vomiting + papilledema are the three main symptoms of increased intracranial pressure.

1. Headache: It is one of the most common symptoms of increased intracranial pressure. It is mainly in the morning or in the evening. It is mostly located in the forehead and temporal region. It can radiate forward from the neck and occipital region to the orbit. The degree of headache increases progressively with increased intracranial pressure. Straining, coughing, and bending over can make headaches worse.

2. Vomiting: Vomiting is projective, and it is easy to occur after meals. Nausea and vomiting are easy to occur when the headache is severe.

3. Papilledema: an objective sign of increased intracranial pressure. Manifested as hyperemia of the optic disc, blurred edges, disappearance of the fovea, bulge of the optic disc, and distended veins. If papilledema persists for a long time, the color of the optic disc will be pale, the visual acuity will be reduced, and the visual field will be reduced concentrically, which is called secondary atrophy of the optic nerve.

Intracranial Model (fixed in head-shaped platform)

4. Consciousness disturbance: drowsiness and unresponsiveness may appear in the early stage. In severe cases, drowsiness, coma, mydriasis, disappearance of response to light, brain herniation, and encephalopathy may occur.

5. Cushing's reaction: When acute intracranial pressure increases, it can cause increased blood pressure, slow heart rate, increased pulse pressure, slowed breathing, and elevated body temperature, which is called Cushing's reaction. The changes of these vital signs are caused by the dysfunction of the cerebral nuclei in the posterior group in the medulla oblongata during intracranial hypertension.

6. Other symptoms and signs: Children may have enlarged head, distended superficial veins of scalp and frontal orbit, widened cranial sutures, and full bregma. Cranial percussion showed a cracking sound (Macewen's sign).