Serious head traumas
Discussion
From another topic and personal experience this has got me thinking. I am just wondering why do individuals end up with such varying degrees of severity and injury from a 'seemingly' similar type of original injury.
I had a severe head trauma 2 years ago from a what I thought at the time was just an unfortunate slip. I remember absolutely nothing about the event, but slipped over and went down backwards onto a wooden floor. The rear of my skull took the impact. I knew nothing until 10 hours later waking up in a hospital bed. Surprisingly I was quickly given the all clear released and sent on my way, (was working away at the time in Belfast.) 24 hours later i was suffering some severe headaches and sent back to the hospital by the guy in charge of our job. Tests were made and it was found i'd fractured my skull in 3 places and had 3 bleeds on my brain. How is it in a seemingly short time I was released from hospital, (less than a week) and sent home. Suffered some mood swing issues and loss of memory for a while but lived to tell the tale with no long term issues.
Watched a program last night where a guy involved in an argument got punched in the head, the 1 punch sent him straight down and his head impacted with the concrete kerb, (I think, or pavement.) Sadly the guy never regained consciousness and died in hospital the next day from his injuries.
How and why does this all work.
I had a severe head trauma 2 years ago from a what I thought at the time was just an unfortunate slip. I remember absolutely nothing about the event, but slipped over and went down backwards onto a wooden floor. The rear of my skull took the impact. I knew nothing until 10 hours later waking up in a hospital bed. Surprisingly I was quickly given the all clear released and sent on my way, (was working away at the time in Belfast.) 24 hours later i was suffering some severe headaches and sent back to the hospital by the guy in charge of our job. Tests were made and it was found i'd fractured my skull in 3 places and had 3 bleeds on my brain. How is it in a seemingly short time I was released from hospital, (less than a week) and sent home. Suffered some mood swing issues and loss of memory for a while but lived to tell the tale with no long term issues.
Watched a program last night where a guy involved in an argument got punched in the head, the 1 punch sent him straight down and his head impacted with the concrete kerb, (I think, or pavement.) Sadly the guy never regained consciousness and died in hospital the next day from his injuries.
How and why does this all work.
There are many types of brain haemorrhages. Some have better prognoses than others and prognosis depends on how quickly the correct treatment is taken.
For example, an extradural haemorrhage occurs between the brain and the skull. This means the brain tissue is fine as the blood supply is maintained, until the bleed is big enough to start compressing vital structures. If you drill a hole in the skull in good time then the pressure is relieved and the prognosis is good.
If a haemorrhage occurs inside the brain (intracranial haemorrhage) then you are dealing with a disrupted blood supply and the compression of brain structures (mass effect)
It's the injuries you don't see that cause the most damage. If you are involved in a trauma which causes the brain to slosh around inside the skull you can get numerous contusions as the brain rubs against itself - some you will see on a CT scan, but most you won't. In severe traumas you damage the neurons themselves and there's no coming back from that (see diffuse axonal injury).
A lot of it is luck. The mechanism of injury is no way of knowing how severe a head injury is. Just look at Michael Schumacher.
For example, an extradural haemorrhage occurs between the brain and the skull. This means the brain tissue is fine as the blood supply is maintained, until the bleed is big enough to start compressing vital structures. If you drill a hole in the skull in good time then the pressure is relieved and the prognosis is good.
If a haemorrhage occurs inside the brain (intracranial haemorrhage) then you are dealing with a disrupted blood supply and the compression of brain structures (mass effect)
It's the injuries you don't see that cause the most damage. If you are involved in a trauma which causes the brain to slosh around inside the skull you can get numerous contusions as the brain rubs against itself - some you will see on a CT scan, but most you won't. In severe traumas you damage the neurons themselves and there's no coming back from that (see diffuse axonal injury).
A lot of it is luck. The mechanism of injury is no way of knowing how severe a head injury is. Just look at Michael Schumacher.
Thanks very much 
Mine was an extradural hematoma and during the first few days in hospital they were concerned with the swelling on 1 of the bleeds. I remember sitting in the hospital bed feeling relatively normal. I don't think i'd really grasped the possible gravity of the situation, I hadn't even phoned home as I knew the Mrs would panic and want to be on the first plane out. On the 3rd day they were an hour away from doing the drill procedure you are on about but luckily the swelling stopped and they decided against it. The doctor said to me, if we do decide to do the op, you might want to think about that phone call home. That put things into perspective a bit.
I remember seeing my consultant in the UK and he used the Schumacher injury as a comparison in 1 of our conversations. I guess 1 of the key things with a head trauma injury is the difference between an extradural hematoma and an intracranial haemorrhage. Just goes to show what a very complex thing the brain and the area around it really are.
I'm assuming that in the program I watched the other night the guy may have suffered damaged neurons, as once he'd hit the floor he never regained consciousness. They got him to the hospital and quickly discovered major brain injuries and said it was only the machines keeping him alive. He died the next day.
Thanks again for the info
Mine was an extradural hematoma and during the first few days in hospital they were concerned with the swelling on 1 of the bleeds. I remember sitting in the hospital bed feeling relatively normal. I don't think i'd really grasped the possible gravity of the situation, I hadn't even phoned home as I knew the Mrs would panic and want to be on the first plane out. On the 3rd day they were an hour away from doing the drill procedure you are on about but luckily the swelling stopped and they decided against it. The doctor said to me, if we do decide to do the op, you might want to think about that phone call home. That put things into perspective a bit.
I remember seeing my consultant in the UK and he used the Schumacher injury as a comparison in 1 of our conversations. I guess 1 of the key things with a head trauma injury is the difference between an extradural hematoma and an intracranial haemorrhage. Just goes to show what a very complex thing the brain and the area around it really are.
I'm assuming that in the program I watched the other night the guy may have suffered damaged neurons, as once he'd hit the floor he never regained consciousness. They got him to the hospital and quickly discovered major brain injuries and said it was only the machines keeping him alive. He died the next day.
Thanks again for the info
Definitely 'luck' to some extent.
I went flying backwards through a set of patio doors (not locked shut but the glass is still cracked!) out onto the patio itself. Apparently the crack was audible though I blacked out on contact.
There was a lot of blood and I was out of it for 2 days. For various reasons I only visited A and E the week after.
An x Ray showed a fractured skull and I had a CT scan and they drew fluid out from my spine to test for bleeds.
I was extremely lucky that there was no damage in terms of brain injury especially as I'd left it a week before being checked out and given the force of my fall.
I still have a dent in my head!
Hope you are fully recovered OP
(and yes I would now go to hospital immediately for a head injury!)
I went flying backwards through a set of patio doors (not locked shut but the glass is still cracked!) out onto the patio itself. Apparently the crack was audible though I blacked out on contact.
There was a lot of blood and I was out of it for 2 days. For various reasons I only visited A and E the week after.
An x Ray showed a fractured skull and I had a CT scan and they drew fluid out from my spine to test for bleeds.
I was extremely lucky that there was no damage in terms of brain injury especially as I'd left it a week before being checked out and given the force of my fall.
I still have a dent in my head!
Hope you are fully recovered OP
(and yes I would now go to hospital immediately for a head injury!)FLGirl said:
Definitely 'luck' to some extent.
I went flying backwards through a set of patio doors (not locked shut but the glass is still cracked!) out onto the patio itself. Apparently the crack was audible though I blacked out on contact.
There was a lot of blood and I was out of it for 2 days. For various reasons I only visited A and E the week after.
An x Ray showed a fractured skull and I had a CT scan and they drew fluid out from my spine to test for bleeds.
I was extremely lucky that there was no damage in terms of brain injury especially as I'd left it a week before being checked out and given the force of my fall.
I still have a dent in my head!
Hope you are fully recovered OP (and yes I would now go to hospital immediately for a head injury!)
WOW. I've not heard of that before where they draw fluid out of your spine I went flying backwards through a set of patio doors (not locked shut but the glass is still cracked!) out onto the patio itself. Apparently the crack was audible though I blacked out on contact.
There was a lot of blood and I was out of it for 2 days. For various reasons I only visited A and E the week after.
An x Ray showed a fractured skull and I had a CT scan and they drew fluid out from my spine to test for bleeds.
I was extremely lucky that there was no damage in terms of brain injury especially as I'd left it a week before being checked out and given the force of my fall.
I still have a dent in my head!
Hope you are fully recovered OP
(and yes I would now go to hospital immediately for a head injury!)
Like yourself, I am in the clear now and very grateful for that especially after watching the program the other night.
I went over the handlebars at a speed of between 27 & 30mph (according to the police accident investigators) when I was 24, landing head first (about 2" above the hairline at the front). I went into convulsions, was unconscious for 3 hours, in hospital for 3 days, off work for a month with splitting headaches, and still have a dent in my skull, although it's not visible, as the guy who put in the 36 stitches to put it back together did a cracking job.
Apparently my skull is 30% thicker than average, and if it wasn't, I would almost certainly not have survived. I now always wear a helmet when cycling, and put up with the fact that only two brands - Giro & Specialized - seem to make helmets big enough to fit my head!
Apparently my skull is 30% thicker than average, and if it wasn't, I would almost certainly not have survived. I now always wear a helmet when cycling, and put up with the fact that only two brands - Giro & Specialized - seem to make helmets big enough to fit my head!
Ouch KP! That sounds very traumatic.
Lumbar puncture:
http://www.mayfieldclinic.com/PE-LP.htm
It stings a bit
It was 2 years ago now and I think it took me about 6 weeks to feel fully normal. The only weird side effect was I was irrationally cheerful for a couple of weeks!
It can certainly go very wrong, perhaps those of us posting are all thick skull-ers!
Lumbar puncture:
http://www.mayfieldclinic.com/PE-LP.htm
It stings a bit
It was 2 years ago now and I think it took me about 6 weeks to feel fully normal. The only weird side effect was I was irrationally cheerful for a couple of weeks!
It can certainly go very wrong, perhaps those of us posting are all thick skull-ers!
FLGirl said:
Ouch KP! That sounds very traumatic.
It didnt' feel it at the time, as adrenaline kicked in until I passed out. One of the last bits I can remember is asking the guy who stopped in the car behind me if he'd get my bike pump out of the middle of the road so that I could cycle home and get cleaned up! The realisation that it was pretty serious didn't really sink in until a week later when my mother drove me over to get my bike back from the guy whose house we'd been outside. He opened the door, said "I didn't think I'd see you again" and burst into tears.
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