Head injury

Injury	Disease	Nutrition	Poison

Symptoms	Surgery	Test	Special Topic

Concussion

Bicycle helmet - proper usage

Head injury

Intracerebellar hemorrhage - CT scan

Indications of head injury

Overview

Symptoms

Treatment

Prevention

Head injury

Alternative Names:

Concussion - first aid; Brain injury; Head trauma

Symptoms:

The signs of a head injury can occur immediately or develop slowly over several hours. Even if the skull is not fractured, the brain can bang against the inside of the skull and be bruised. (This is called a concussion.) The head may look fine, but complications could result from bleeding inside the skull.

When encountering a person who just had a head injury, try to find out what happened. If he or she cannot tell you, look for clues and ask witnesses. In any serious head trauma, always assume the spinal cord is also injured.

The following symptoms suggest a more serious head injury that requires emergency medical treatment:

Loss of consciousness, confusion, or drowsiness
Low breathing rate or drop in blood pressure
Convulsions
Fracture in the skull or face, facial bruising, swelling at the site of the injury, or scalp wound
Fluid drainage from nose, mouth, or ears (may be clear or bloody)
Severe headache
Initial improvement followed by worsening symptoms
Irritability (especially in children), personality changes, or unusual behavior
Restlessness, clumsiness, lack of coordination
Slurred speech or blurred vision
Inability to move one or more limbs
Stiff neck or vomiting
Pupil changes
Inability to hear, see, taste, or smell

References:

Marx JA, Hockberger RS, Walls RM, eds. Rosen’s Emergency Medicine: Concepts and Clinical Practice. 5^th Ed. St. Louis, MO: Mosby; 2002.

DeLee JC, Drez, Jr., D, Miller MD, eds. DeLee and Drez’s Orthopaedic Sports Medicine. 2^nd Ed. Philadelphia, PA: Saunders; 2003.

Goetz CG, Pappert EJ. Textbook of Clinical Neurology. 2^nd Ed. Philadelphia, PA: Saunders; 2003:1130-1134.

Review Date: 4/8/2005
Reviewed By: William D. Whetstone M.D., Division of Emergency Medicine, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.

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