What are the complications after meningioma surgery?

In real life, meningioma is a very common intracranial disease. Having meningioma will not only easily affect the health of the body and brain, but meningioma surgery is a common surgery for treating meningioma. After meningioma surgery, you also need to pay more attention to some complications, which can easily lead to impaired consciousness, or headaches and pupil changes.

Complications after brain tumor surgery

Pay attention to changes in body temperature and use physical cooling to prevent frostbite

Using an ice pack or ice cap to cool the head of an unconscious person can reduce oxygen consumption by brain tissue cells and help reduce cerebral edema. Pay attention to changes in body temperature to prevent frostbite. Give sedatives to agitated patients.

Keep the airway open and administer oxygen if necessary

Raise the head of the bed 15 to 30 degrees, and avoid twisting the neck or putting pressure on the chest, to facilitate jugular venous return and reduce intracranial pressure. Keep bowel movements open to avoid straining during bowel movements, which may cause a sudden increase in intracranial pressure and lead to brain herniation.

Closely observe changes in the condition and be alert to the occurrence of brain herniation

Measure body temperature, pulse, respiration, and blood pressure regularly, and pay attention to changes in intracranial pressure. Increased systolic blood pressure and a slow and strong pulse are strong evidence of acute increased intracranial pressure. The area where the skull is removed after surgery is the observation window for intracranial pressure. This area is slightly concave when the intracranial pressure is normal, and appears full or even bulging if the intracranial pressure increases.

Severe headache and frequent vomiting during acute intracranial hypertension are the most common prodromal symptoms of temporal lobe herniation and cerebellar tonsillar herniation.

Observe changes in consciousness. Progressive worsening of impaired consciousness is the most prominent early manifestation of brain herniation. Pay attention to pupil size and light reflex, and strive to make an early diagnosis of brain herniation before pupil changes. If brain herniation occurs, emergency treatment should be performed immediately.

Brain tumor surgery is highly risky and has many complications. Only by making various nursing preparations can the effectiveness of surgical treatment be ensured after the operation.

Observation and nursing care of complications after brain tumor surgery

1. Patients who have undergone brain tumor surgery should be closely observed for changes in consciousness and pupils. If respiratory disorders occur to varying degrees, they may manifest in the early stages as shallow, slow, and irregular breathing and decreased oxygen saturation. Early tracheotomy is recommended. The peak period of cerebral edema is 3 to 7 days after surgery. The pupils may become larger or smaller, which may be related to the displacement of brain stem edema. Therefore, dehydration should be strengthened and water intake should be restricted. If blood pressure drops or arrhythmia occurs, timely blood volume replenishment, blood gas monitoring and analysis should be performed, electrolyte and acid-base balance should be maintained, and small doses of cardiotonic drugs should be given to prevent heart failure.

2. Develop effective nursing plans to prevent complications based on the different locations and natures of tumors, and adjust and implement them in a timely manner according to changes in the condition. For example, patients with medullary tumors may experience respiratory disorders, gastrointestinal stress ulcer bleeding and secondary respiratory tract infections after brain tumor surgery. A nursing plan needs to be formulated and close observation is required. If the patient is found to have no spontaneous breathing after surgery, tracheotomy should be performed immediately and a ventilator should be used to assist breathing. After 48 hours, the ventilator high-pressure alarm appeared and auscultation revealed weakened breath sounds on both sides of the lungs. Bronchoscopy revealed that the bilateral bronchi were blocked by a large amount of necrotic tissue and sputum crusts. Bronchoscopy and irrigation, as well as infusion of antibiotics before the bifurcation of the common bronchus, effectively relieved the respiratory obstruction.

3. Prevention and care of respiratory complications Respiratory disorders and secondary respiratory infections are common complications. It is particularly important to turn over, pat the back, and suction sputum regularly to keep the airway open. For patients with tracheotomy, attention should be paid to early postoperative care, and strict control should be exercised over sterility, airway patency, and humidification. For patients who use ventilators to assist their breathing, in order to prevent lung infections, we mix the residual antibiotic solution used for intravenous drip into intratracheal drops. For example, add 20 ml of 0.9% sodium chloride to the residual solution of cephalosporins and drip the medicine into the trachea. 15-20 drops/time.h-1, or intratracheal instillation of cephalexin 1.0 plus 0.9% sodium chloride 20ml, which can not only keep the respiratory tract moist, but also facilitate sputum suction, so that the lung infection can be quickly controlled. At the same time, sputum culture should be performed regularly to guide the use of antibiotics and prevent fungal infections caused by dysbiosis.

4. Prevention and monitoring of gastrointestinal stress ulcers: In the early stage, 0.2-0.4 g of cimetidine should be injected intravenously once every 8 hours, and a gastric tube should be placed to monitor gastric juice and observe the properties of gastric contents. At the same time, pay attention to measuring the pH value of gastric juice and deal with any signs of bleeding in a timely manner. If black stools are present, the fecal occult blood test is positive, or dark brown liquid is drawn from the gastric tube, ice water gastric lavage should be given promptly, and 1000 u of Instantane should be injected intravenously once every 8 hours to achieve better results.