Manage CSF pressure with ease.
Get alerted to CSF drainage issues immediately.
Get patients moving to expedite post-surgical recovery.
Meticulous lumbar drain management is required to prevent uncontrolled CSF drainage with traditional gravity-based drip chambers.
Hospitals around the world use LiquoGuard® - the leading automated CSF management device on the market - to accurately measure intracranial pressure and drain CSF simultaneously. Continuous monitoring and instant alerts lowers the burden of supervision which frees up neurosurgical teams to focus on other critical patient needs, as well as not having to worry about late night CSF drainage complications.
LiquoGuard® allows for early ambulation by the patient during CSF drainage, and this helps hospitals reduce ICU costs up to 7 times. LiquoGuard® is CSF management for the 21st century.
CSF drainage during aortic repair surgery is considered clinically advantageous for protecting the spinal cord from injury. The main goal is to maintain a safe spinal cord perfusion pressure during surgery and 24-48 hours after surgery.
Common gravity drip chambers cannot measure CSF pressure while draining CSF. Anytime the patient moves, drainage must be stopped, and the transducer must be leveled.
On the other hand, LiquoGuard® accurately measures pressure and drains CSF simultaneously without need to manually adjust stopcocks or re-zero or re-level a transducer. It may be set to drain CSF based on surgeon-prescribed pressure or set to drain a specific volume of CSF every hour.
CV anesthesiologists and nurses no longer have to decide between transducing pressure or draining CSF. Nor will they have to worry about the pressure getting too high, too low, or the risk of "dumping" CSF which could result in permanent spinal cord injury.
Post-surgery, the patient can sit up in bed and walk, if able, while draining CSF.
LiquoGuard®'s automation helps save time and ensures patient safety. Simply preset a desired pressure or hourly volume and LiquoGuard® handles the rest.
When it comes to gravity-based drains, neurosurgical teams are not typically aware there is a problem with the drainage process until it is discovered based on neurological deficits due to:
LiquoGuard® was designed to continually monitor for CSF drainage problems. It is a proactive system, unlike gravity-based drains which cannot actively monitor and detect issues.
Our device will notify staff immediately when there is an occlusion, pressure discrepancies, catheter disconnections or leaks in the drainage line.
This helps clinicians by knowing that their CSF drain patients are being monitored closely and consistently - and they only need to intervene when the device senses a problem with the drainage process.
The system not only supervises the patient levels, but also supervises itself. Any inconsistency in the measured pressure leads to an alarm so that you will know immediately when a problem is detected.
CSF patients connected to gravity drains can't change their positions without the risk of adversely impacting the drainage process. Various studies have shown that immobile patients tend to have longer recovery times.
Early ambulation can also improve post-surgical outcomes. Automated CSF drainage technology with smart sensors makes this possible.
With the LiquoGuard®, the drainage bag is not height dependent, reducing the potential for accidental over-drainage due to patient movement - a dangerous and under-reported risk of gravity drains.
Our device allows for ambulation including sitting up in bed, going to the rest room and walking the halls without having to depend on a nurse to adjust the stopcock.
CSF management is not without its share of medical complications. Overdrainage can lead to subarachnoid hemorrhage, severe headaches, and even death.
These issues typically prolong the patient's ICU stay, which studies show averages $3,500 per day of hospital costs.
Investing in a smart CSF management device can help your hospital avoid extended ICU stays and exorbitant costs by significantly reducing or even eliminating the potential for CSF drainage complications.
Facilities already using LiquoGuard® for CSF management are satisfied with the ROI they see due to its implementation. In fact, on average, they will pay 7x less per patient in ICU costs by being able to move CSF drain patients to the regular floor for treatment faster.
Gravity-based drip chambers are commonly used by neurosurgical teams for CSF drainage, but are difficult to manage and fraught with problems, especially restrictions on movement and inadvertent "dumping" of CSF.
Our automated CSF management technology, Liquoguard®, is easy to manage and eliminates the challenges associated with gravity-based drains. There is now no need to:
- level a transducer each time the patient moves,
- manipulate stopcocks
- choose between measuring pressure or draining CSF
- keep the patient still while draining without the risk of overdraining CSF.
Handling mistakes are prevented, which greatly improves patient safety and leads to shorter ICU stays.
See for yourself how easy LiquoGuard® makes managing CSF drainage in the videos below:
We’re always trying to create helpful content for our neurosurgical clientele. Please contact us with any questions and/or comments you may have.
