Do you perform apnea testing prior to ancillary tests in patients with suspected brain death who are unable to undergo complete brainstem testing?

Topics: Neurology • Neuro-critical care

For patients who are unable to have complete brain stem testing, would you recommend apnea testing prior to ancillary tests in case of suspected brain death?

Answer from: at Community Practice

I think this will depend on your institution's protocols. In general, ancillary testing is used as additional evidence ONCE the clinical brain death testing has been completed at the bedside, including the apnea test.Ancillary testing can be helpful when: portions of the brain death clinical exam c...

Comments

at Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University
Thanks, Dr. @Choi for your feedback. My question i...

at ChristianaCare
You are correct, “to the extent possible&rdq...

Answer from: at Academic Institution

I usually perform apnea testing after ancillary testing in this setting. The reason being that if the clinical exam was not reliable or could not be completed, and an ancillary test did NOT show cerebral circulatory arrest, apnea testing would not be appropriate at that point as it would not add inf...

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