Abstract :
The author discusses the devastating effects of inadequate oxygen delivery on the outcome after head injury. This insult alone reduced the chances of patients returning to work after head injury from 79% to 28%. Similar work showing the influences of raised intracranial pressure and falls in arterial pressure is discussed in order to remind one of the need to recognise brain insults early, correct them promptly, measure the effect of that correction and then correlate these improvements in the physiological and biochemical environment with outcome
