disease trauma

• airway
• breathing
• circulation

most common head injury, results from a blow to the head which is hard enough to jostle the brain and make it strike the skull causing temporary neural dysfunction.

most recover w/i 24-48 hrs

• cause:
• sudden/forceful blow to head

microscopic shearing of nerve fibers through sudden acceleration/deceleration

• signs:
• vomiting
• short-term loss of consciousness
• anterograde/retrograde amnesia
• irritability
• lethargic
• out of character behaviors
• dizziness
• nausea
• severe headache
• vertigo
• anziety

• treatment:
• ice to injury
• medication for headache/nausea
• sutures for lacerations

Bruising of the brain tissue-blow to the head

more severe than concussion, since contusion disrupts normal nerve function in the bruised area

• loss of consciousness
• hemorrhage
• edema
• even death

• Cause:
• results from
• coup-contrecoup(acceleration-deceleration) injuries which causes intracranial hemorrhage or hematoma due to shearing of tissue against bony prominences of the skull

• signs:
• severe scalp wound
• labored breathing
• loss of consciousness
• drowsy
• confused
• disorientated
• agitations
• violent behavior
• hemiparesis
• decerebrate posturing

• treatment:
• establishing patient airway
• regular eval of neurological functioning
• level of consciousness
• motor responses