Cushing's triad is three signs of dangerously high pressure inside the skull: widening pulse pressure, a slowed heart rate, and irregular breathing like Cheyne-Stokes respirations. The body tries to push blood to the brain by raising systolic pressure while the heart slows to fight back. It signals a medical emergency from severe brain trauma or rising intracranial pressure.
Cushing's triad means there's a widening pulse pressure, decreased heart rate, and an abnormal breathing pattern. Cushing's triad is the body's way of trying to combat increased intracranial pressure and get more blood flow to the brain to help improve function. The body thinks it's helping by increasing blood flow to the brain, but in reality it's actually making things worse. Throughout the body. Watch for an increase in systolic blood pressure and a decrease in diastolic blood pressure, resulting in a widening pulse pressure. The heart then decreases the heart rate to try to bring down that systolic blood pressure. This widening pulse pressure with a decreased heart rate is a medical emergency. It signals severe brain trauma due to increased intracranial pressure. The patient may have Shane Stokes respirations as well. These are respirations that get progressively deeper and then shallower with periods where breathing stops.
