Hi all
On the scrounge
Are their any guidelines generally accepted for the management of head
injuries. In particular, who gets a CT now, who gets observed etc?
I received conflicting opinions recently, and am working in a foreign
land - so I am not sure what is international/individual variation
Briefly the story was a 20 year old fit, well and sober male who fell
down 4 steps and landed head first, somersaulted and hit head again.
Loss of consciousness for about 40 seconds then awoke and got up . Was
unsteady for a few seconds and then ok. He had struck both sides of his
forehead (contusion, no clinically apparent #). He had a
bifrontal/retroorbital headache rated at 8/10, was nauseous but hadnt
vomited when seen 4 hours post injury. The symptoms were static at this
stage and he complained of nothing else. He had no other injuries and
had been driven in by his father. Physical exam was otherwise
unremarkable. One colleague said CT, one said observe. Luckily for me
I could do neither but it was a question of which institution he be
transported to
TIA
Cheers
--
Jel Coward
The UK Wilderness Emergency Medical Technician and Command Physician course is
9th-15th November 2003 at Glenmore Lodge, Aviemore, Scotland
http://www.wildmedic.org
http://www.wemsi.org
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'There's no such thing as bad weather - just bad clothing"
Anon Norwegian
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