Neurologic Examination in Neurocritical Illness

Abstract

Neurologic examination of critically ill neurologic patients must be the uncompromised gold standard in any evaluation. Without it or when confounded, the attending physician is prone to make errors in diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis. The localization of a disease process in a specific part of the brain (eg, the cerebrum, midbrain, pons, or medulla oblongata), spinal cord, neural plexuses, or peripheral nerves constitutes the essence of a neurologic evaluation, but neurologists resort to several neuroimaging modalities when localization is uncertain.