The RAP Index during Intracranial Pressure Monitoring as a Clinical Guiding for Surgically Treated Aneurysmal Subarachnoid Hemorrhage: Consecutive Series of Single Surgeon

BACKGROUND: It is well known that assessing the RAP index along with intracranial pressure (ICP) monitoring in traumatic brain injury patients is helpful. We will discuss the usefulness of this assessment tool as a clinical guide for surgically treated poor grade aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). METHODS: This retrospective study included 35 patients with aneurysmal SAH who presented with World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies (WFNS) grade V SAH and received surgical treatment from January 2013 to December 2018. Emergency surgical clipping, hematoma removal, extraventricular drainage, and if needed, wide decompressive craniectomy were combined as the proper surgical treatments. Outcomes were assessed based on in-hospital survival and the Glasgow outcome scale score at 14-day follow-up. We compared the mortality rate of two groups of seven patients: ICP monitoring only (n=5) and ICP monitoring combined with the RAP index (n=2). RESULTS: The in-hospital 14-day mortality rate by brain lesion was 48.5% (n=17). Seven patients had real-time ICP monitoring. Before 2018, three of five patients with poor WFNS grade who received real-time ICP monitoring only died. There were no deaths in the group of two patients receiving real-time ICP monitoring and the RAP index. CONCLUSIONS: Our data indicate that combining the RAP index and ICP monitoring can be used as markers for critical intracranial physiological parameters in poor grade WFNS patients.