Head Trauma, Blunt

Basics

Blunt trauma to head resulting in a variety of injuries ranging from closed head injury to death

Blunt trauma to head may cause several types of closed head injuries:

Concussion: Transient LOC or amnesia with normal head CT
Subdural hematoma: Tearing of subdural bridging veins and bleeding into the subdural space
Epidural hematoma: Dural arterial injury, especially the middle meningeal artery often associated with a skull fracture:
- Classically, transient LOC followed by a lucid interval, then rapid demise
Subarachnoid hemorrhage: Bleeding into the subarachnoid space following trauma
Cerebral contusion: Focal injuries to the brain characterized as coup (beneath area of impact) or contrecoup (area remote from impact)
Intracerebral hemorrhage: Mass intracranial lesion with bleeding into the brain parenchyma
Diffuse axonal injury: Microscopic injuries scattered throughout the brain in a patient in deep coma

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