The hallmark of several serious neurological and neurosurgical disorders including severe traumatic brain injury, intracranial haemorrhage, cerebral infection and global hypoxic injury after cardiac arrest, is that the primary insult is out of reach for therapeutic intervention. Secondary injuries however, ensuing in the days to weeks after the primary insult are amenable to prevention or treatment. Inflammation, transient ischemia, free radical formation, cellular Ca2+-influx and mitochondrial dysfunction are therefore all examples of current research topics in neurointensive care.