Head and Spine injuries Cpth 26 Flashcards
Inability to remember events after an injury
Anterograde (posttraumatic) amnesia
Usually occur following diffuse impact to the head (such as falls, MVC); generally result from extension of a linear fracture to the skull and can be difficult to diagnose with a radiograph (x-ray)
Basilar Skull Fracture
Bruising behind an ear over the mastiod process that may indicate a skull fracture
Battle’s sign
Swelling of the brain
Cerebral edema
Injury in which the brain has be injured but the skin has not been broken and there is no obvious bleeding
Closed head injury
A temporary loss or alteration of part or all of the brain’s abilities to function without actual physical damage to the brain.
Concussion
Nerve in the spinal cord that connect the motor and sensory nerves
Connecting nerves
Dual impacting of the brain into the skill; coup injury occurs at the point of impact; contrecoup injury occurs on the opposite side of impact as the brain rebounds
Coup-contrecoup injury
The action of pulling the spine along it lenght
Distraction
An accumulation of blood between the skull and the dura mater
Edpidural hematoma
A head position in which the patient’s eyes are looking straight ahead and the head and torso are in line
Eyes-forward position
The recommended procedure for moving a patient with a suspected spinal injury from the ground to a long backboard
Four person log roll
The cushion that lies between two vertebrae
Intervertebral disk
Bleeding within the brain tissue (Parenchyma) itself; also referred to as an intraparenchymal hematoma
Intracerenra hematoma
The pressure within the cranial vault
Intracranial Pressure (ICP)
Actions of the body that are not under a person’s conscious control
Involuntary activities
Accounts for 80% of skull fractures; also referred to as a nondisplaced skull fractures; commonly occur in the temporal-parietal region of the skill; not associated with deformities to the skull.
Linear skull fracture
Three distinct layers of tissue that surround and protect the spinal cord within the skull and the spinal canal
Meninges
Injury to the head often caused by a penetrating object in which there may be bleeding and exposed brain tissue
Open head injury
An injury to the brain and its associated structures that is a direct result of impact to the head
Primary (direct) injury
Bruising under the eyes that may indicate a skill fracture
Raccoon eyes
The inability to remember events leading up to a head injury
retrogrande amnesia
The “after effects” of the primary injury; includes abnormal processes such as cerebral edema, increased intracranial pressure, cerebral ischemia and hypoxia, and infection; onset is often delayed following the primary brain injury
Secondary (indirect) injury
Bleeding into the subarachnoid space, where the cerebrospinal fluid circulates
Subarachnoid hemorrhage