Head Injuries Flashcards
Signs and symptoms of a brain injury
diziness
nausea
vomitting
agression
loss of consciousness
memory loss
Signs and symptoms of a basal skull fracture (4)
bleeding from ear
fluid from nose/ear
blood staining whites of eyes
periorbital haemotoma - racoon eyes
brain injury : ICP - list the types
subdural haemotoma
extradural ‘’ ‘’
subarachnoid ‘’ ‘’
Managing ICP:
cABC and evacuate
causes of unconsciousness (FISHH SHAPED)
Fainting
Infections
Shock
Head injury
Heart attack
Stroke
Hypoxia
Abnormal body temp
Poisoning
Epilepsy
Diabetes
3 methods of assessing consciousness
- AVPU
- PEARLA
- GCS
3 layers of the brain
Pia mater
arachnoid
dura mater
4 Signs of raised ICP
Abnormal posture
Abnormal respiratory patterns
reduction in consciousness
hypertension and bradycardia
Level 1 ICP
Pupils contrict but reactive
Abnormal resp patterns
DECORTICATE posture
Level 2 ICP
BP rises pulse decreases
pupils fixed
abnormal resp pattern
Decereberate posture
Level 3 ICP
one/oth pupils fixed/dilated
unresponsive to painful stimuli
flaccid
BP drops
2 types of seizures
Partial
Generalized
Causes of seizures
mental illness
drugs
hypothermia
hypoglycaemia
epilepsy
recognition of a seizure
sudden collapse
localized fitting
drowsy
urinated
what is diabetic coma
collapse due to hypo/yper-glycaemia
