4093 4 Flashcards
TBI: Direct vs Indirect
Direct means you got hit in the head, indirect means you got hit somewhere else
The most common lobes to be hurt in TBI
frontal and temporal
Besides Direct and Indirect, you can categorize TBI as
Primary or Secondary
Primary injury
happens at the same time as a head injury
Moderate TBI
Lose consciousness for up to 6 hours
Other systemic problems
Problems learning/working
Severe TBI
Out for more than 6 hours
Major sign of Basilar skull fracture
CSF from the nose and ears
Concussion is when the
brain rattles around in the skull
A diffuse axonal injury to the brain
means there’s wide spread damage
Secondary brain injury
happens After the initial injury
As ICP increases, perfusion to the brain
decreases
As ICP increases, perfusion to the brain decreases. The brain counteracts this by
vasodilating to encourage perfusion, but that only increases ICP even worse
Epidural hematoma means
blood clotting btwn the dura and the inner skull.
after an Epidural hematoma, the patient will be
knocked out for a minute, but then wakes up and their lucid
This is an emergency situation
Hydrocephalus
too much volume in the CSF
An uncal herniation is an
especially dnagerous kind of brain herniation.
It causes pressure on CN 3 so they have eye manifestations
They also lose consciousness quickly
2 manifestations of central herniation
pinpoint pupils
Cheyne Stokes
TBI: until you have x ray results, treat the patient as if they had
spine injury
Loss of feeling, head tilt, and tender in the back can indicate
spine injury
The BP of someone with TBI could be
hypo or hyper
Cushings Triad
a late sign of ICP.
Severe HTN, wide pulse pressure, bradycardia
If a TBI pt gets hypotension and tachycardia, it could mean they’re going into
hypovolemic shock
The single most important thing to check for when determining neuro status is
LOC
One thing that is ALWAYS a sign of ICP is
papilledema