Page 932 - Saunders Comprehensive Review For NCLEX-RN
P. 932
Adapted from Hockenberry M, Wilson D: Wong’s nursing care of infants and children,
ed 9, St. Louis, 2013, Mosby; and McKinney E, James S, Murray S, Ashwill J:
Maternal-child nursing, ed 4, St. Louis, 2013, Saunders.
Box 31-4
Positioning After Craniotomy
▪ Assess the surgeon’s prescription for positioning, including the degree of neck
flexion.
▪ If a large tumor has been removed, the child is not placed on the operative side,
because the brain may shift suddenly to that cavity.
▪ In an infratentorial procedure, the child usually is positioned flat and on either
side.
▪ In a supratentorial procedure, the head usually is elevated above the heart level
to facilitate cerebrospinal fluid drainage and to decrease excessive blood flow to
the brain to prevent hemorrhage.
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