Cerebral Flashcards
Cranium composition
80% brain
10% CSF
10% blood
Major causes of Head injurys
Falls Motor vehicle injury Bicycle/motor bike Sports related injury Child abuse Assault
TBI
Leads to severe brain damage or death if not recognized and treated appropriately
Causes of ICP
Head injury Subdural/Epidural hematoma IVH (intraventricular hemorrhage) Fractures Meningitis/Encephalitis Hydrocephalus Status Epilepticus Reyes Syndrome Cerebral edema
Concussion:
Most common injury
Concussion: Hallmark signs and symptoms
Confusion, amnesia, altered neurological or cognitive function with or without loss of consciousness
Occurs immediately after injury
Signs of ICP
Concussion: Treatment
Resolves between 7-10 days but can take up to several months depending on severity
Rest!!!
Contusion
Visible bruising and tearing of cerebral tissue
Small petechiae or little bleeds in brain tissue
Degree of brain damage in the contused areas varies according to the extent of vascular injury
Epidural Hemorrhage/Hematoma:
Bleeding the dura mater and the skull to form a hematoma, dura is peeled off the skull, and its arterial blood that lying underneath
Not as common as subdural hematomas
Usually occurs in younger adults
Epidural Hemorrhage/Hematoma: S/S
Brief loss of consciousness followed by a period of awareness that may last several hours before the brain function deteriorates sometimes leaving the patient in acoma
Very serious if not treated immediately the patient can die
Epidural Hemorrhage/Hematoma: Treatment
Neurosurgeon will go in and evacuate the hematoma
Patients usually have a good outcome if its recognized immediately
Subdural Hemorrhage
Bleeding between the dura mater and the arachnoid membrane, usually due to stretching and tearing of veins on the brain’s surface
Traumatic, acute subdural hematoma is the most lethal of all head injuries
More common than epidural hematomas. most often infancy as a result of birth trauma, falls, child abuse, or violent shaking
CSF analysis: Glucose content-viral
Normal
Penetrating trauma
Gun shot wounds or objects that break the barrier of the skull
Fractures: Linear
Most common type of skull fracture
break in the bone but it doesn’t move the bone
May be observed for a brief time
No interventions needed
Fractures: Depressed
Seen with and without a cut in the scalp
Part of the skull is actually sunken in from the trauma
May require surgical intervention, depending on the severity, to help correct the deformity
Fractures: Diastatic
Widen the sutures of the skull and usually affect children under 3
The normal suture lines are widened
More often seen in newborns and older infants
Fractures: Comminuted
Fracture in which the bone has broken into several pieces
Fractures: Basilar
Most serious type of skull fracture, and involves a break in the bone at the base of the skull
Frequently have bruises behind the ears (battle signs) and around the eyes (raccoon eyes)
Clear fluid draining from their nose or ears due to a tear in part of the covering of the brain
Usually require close observation in the hospital
Classic raccoon eyes, bleeding around the nose, ear, and ethmoid sinus
Minor head injury symptoms
May or may not lose consciousness HA Confusion, amnesia Listlessness Pallor Vomiting, generally projectile Irritability Seizures
Severe head injury symptoms
Decreased LOC/GCS Changes in VS Bulging fontanels Retinal hemorrhage Unsteady gait Hemiparesis, numbness on one side Quadriplegia, numbness on all 4 extremities Elevated temperature
Warning signs after head injury (first 24hr)
Change in LOC Increased drowsiness, confusion, difficult to arouse Seizures Bleeding or water drainage from nose and ears Pupils slow to react or unequal Visual problems Loss of sensation to any extremity Slurred speech Projectile vomiting
Diagnostics for head injury
H&P Baseline VS SpO2 LOC/GCS ABG Alcohol level Drug screen CBC Xray CT scan MRI
Secondary complications from head injury
Changes in LOC (Pay attention to changes) Coma Increased ICP Infection -open penetrating wound Cerebral edema Hemorrhage Seizures Hypoxic brain damage Brain herniation Brain death