Contents:
- Medical Video: Concussion / Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)
- What is an epidural hematoma?
- What caused it?
- What are the risks that may arise from epidural hematoma?
- What are the symptoms?
- What precautions can be taken?
- How is the treatment?
- Caring for brain bleeding at home
Medical Video: Concussion / Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)
Head injury is one type of injury that is most often experienced by victims of traffic accidents. Severe head injuries can result in brain damage, disability, mental disorders, and even death. Based on media releases from the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2015, Indonesia was ranked third in Asia after China and India with total deaths due traffic accident reaching 38,279 inhabitants. One sign of severe head injury is an epidural hematoma. What is an epidural hematoma and how do you deal with it before it's too late? Here's a further explanation.
What is an epidural hematoma?
Epidural hematoma is bleeding that occurs between the inside of the skull and the dura (thick membrane covering the brain). This internal bleeding causes swelling of the brain which causes the brain to shift.
What caused it?
The most common cause of bleeding in the brain is severe injury to the head, in the form of a car or motorcycle accident, falling, physical violence (in the form of a hand punch, with a blunt object, or a direct kick to the head), or an accident while exercising.
Epidural hematomas are more common in children and adolescents because the membranes covering the brain are not tightly attached to the skull, unlike parents and children under the age of 2 years.
What are the risks that may arise from epidural hematoma?
Epidural hematoma can cause damage to brain tissue that can affect the ability of vision, speech, movement and coordination of the body, and awareness. If not treated immediately, epidural hematoma can cause brain damage as a whole to even death.
What are the symptoms?
Symptoms of internal bleeding usually appear a few minutes or several hours after experiencing a head injury. Some symptoms that can arise include:
- Confusion
- Dizzy
- Very headache
- Drowsiness and decreased alertness
- Nausea or vomiting
- The pupil in one eye enlarges
- Lost consciousness, which can occur several times
- Feeling weak in one part of the body opposite the enlarged side of the pupil
You may experience fainting immediately after an accident. But then you wake up and watch out for a few moments, before you finally come back unconscious. You can even experience coma.
What precautions can be taken?
Epidural hematoma is most often caused by a traffic accident. Therefore, the most important precautionary step is ensuring your driving safety by complying with traffic regulations and signs and using complete driving attributes. Use an SNI standard helmet that matches the size of your head if you drive with a motorbike, and use a seat belt when driving by car.
Beyond that, always make sure that the security attributes are in accordance with the standard operating procedures in your workplace and use adequate protection when exercising to prevent injury.
How is the treatment?
Epidural hematoma treatment will depend on the severity and symptoms you experience. Possible therapies given at the hospital include surgery for the skull to drain bleeding and reduce pressure on the brain. Before surgery, the first step in a doctor's treatment to reduce swelling is to prescribe drugs such as mannitol, glyceroland hypertonic salt. After your hematoma is removed, you will be given a medication that prevents seizures. Chances are you will take this drug for months, even years.
If this brain hemorrhage causes you to experience disability or injury such as weakness and difficulty walking; paralysis; losing the sensory ability of the taste, the doctor will refer you to a physical therapist, who will help you exercise and your physical abilities.
Caring for brain bleeding at home
Epidural hematoma can take a long time to completely recover. The article, the treatment process itself can take 6 months to maybe two years after you experience the injury.
To speed up the healing process of a head injury, in general you are not allowed to do heavy work which can cause you fatigue. You are also advised to increase rest and enough sleep and avoid alcohol.
