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Is a CT or MRI Scan of the Brain Necessary for Brain Stem Damage? Quick Tip for Families in ICU!

Hi, it’s Patrik Hutzel from intensivecarehotline.com with another quick tip for families in intensive care.

So, today’s tip is about, “Brain stem injury in ICU and what should the diagnostics be if someone has a brain stem injury in ICU?” So yes, the context, we are currently working with a client, and we had a family meeting with the intensive care team who was saying that our client’s mother has brain stem injury and that she won’t have any “meaningful recovery” because of that. The intensive care team mentioning it after their mother being in the ICU for about two weeks.

So obviously, with me being in the meeting, I asked them whether a CT (Computed Tomography) scan of the brain or an MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) scan of the brain had been done to verify the diagnosis and they said, “No, a CT scan, or an MRI scan of the brain had not been done to verify the diagnosis of brain stem injury.”

Now, interestingly enough, from my experience, I have worked in intensive care for over 20 years in three different countries where I also worked as a nurse manager in intensive care for over five years, I have been consulting and advocating for families in intensive care  all around the world for the last 10 years as part of my intensivecarehotline.com consulting and advocacy service. I’ve never seen brain stem injuries not being confirmed by a CT scan of the brain or by an MRI scan of the brain.

So, I asked the doctor, how they diagnosed the brain stem injury? They said, “Well, through a physical exam from the neurologist.” I find that hard to believe that absolutely physical exam is important to check for reflexes and whatnot. However, that needs to be verified still by a CT scan of the brain or by an MRI scan of the brain in order to make sure they diagnose our client’s mother correctly.

You can’t just make up things based on one test, especially when it comes to brain stem the injury or damage, that is a significant diagnosis. You can’t just jump to conclusions and say, “Well, your mom won’t have any meaningful recovery because she’s got brain stem damage or brain stem injury”, without having the formal follow-up diagnosis.

So, that’s why I’m saying over and over again, the biggest challenge for families in intensive care is simply that they don’t know what they don’t know. They don’t know what to look for. They don’t know what questions to ask. They don’t know their rights and they don’t know how to manage doctors and nurses in intensive care.

I have never worked in an ICU in all my time where brain stem damage has not been confirmed by a CT scan of the brain or by an MRI scan of the brain. I will put a link below this video where this is verified with a research paper that CT scan of the brain or an MRI scan of the brain needs to be done to diagnose brain stem damage.

So, that is my quick tip for today.

Now, if you have a loved one in intensive care and you need help, go to intensivecarehotline.com and call us on one of the numbers on the top of our website or simply send us an email to [email protected].

Now, I also offer one-on-one consulting and advocacy for families in intensive care. I talk to you on the phone. I talk to doctors and nurses on the phone. I participate in family meetings with intensive care teams so that you can make informed decisions, and have peace of mind, control, power, and influence when you have a loved one in intensive care and that’s where I can help you the best.

I ask all the questions that you haven’t even considered asking. You will see that the dynamics with intensive care teams change in your favor very, very quickly, having a professional consultant and advocate on your side will change the dynamics in your favor so that you can make informed decisions, and have peace of mind, control, power, and influence. So, you can find my consulting options at our counseling section on our website, or you can just send me an email and ask for it and we’ll send it to you.

Now, we also have a membership for families of critically ill patients in intensive care. If you go to intensivecarehotline.com and you click on the membership link there, you can get access to our membership for families of critically ill patients in intensive care or you can go to intensivecaresupport.org directly. In the membership, you have access to me and my team, 24 hours a day, in the membership area and via email and we answer all questions intensive care related.

We also offer medical record reviews in real time so that you can have a second opinion in real time. Again, contact us at intensivecarehotline.com if you want a medical record review and a second opinion in real time. We also offer medical record reviews after intensive care if you have unanswered questions, if you are simply needing closure, or if you are suspecting medical negligence.

Now, if you like my videos subscribe to my YouTube channel for regular updates for families in intensive care. Click the like button, click the notification bell, comment below what you want to see next or what questions and insights you have and share the video with your friends and families.

Thanks for watching.

This is Patrik Hutzel from intensivecarehotline.com and I will talk to you in a few days.

Take care for now.