Getting Past the Myths of Traumatic Brain Injury Treatment

Myth 1: small scalp wounds do not have to be dealt with first The blood supply of the scalp is much richer than other parts of the body, once the scalp is cracked, even if it is a small wound, it often bleeds ferociously. This bleeding may not be easy to observe internal bleeding, if not controlled as soon as possible, the casualty is prone to hemorrhagic shock in a short period of time, or even death. Therefore, when there is bleeding from wounds in other parts of the body at the same time, scalp bleeding should be dealt with first. Myth 2: not timely clean up scalp injuries earthquake by a variety of construction materials are very susceptible to infection, so be sure to scalp trauma casualties as soon as possible to thoroughly remove the wound foreign body and soil, and early application of tetanus antitoxin and antibiotics. Myth 3: Immediate removal of bone fragments and foreign objects In the absence of craniotomy conditions, do not easily remove. Because the bone fragments or foreign objects may have pierced the thick venous sinuses or large blood vessels in the brain, in the absence of extraction, may not have been bleeding, once removed, may cause uncontrollable hemorrhage and loss of rescue time. When encountering such injuries, they should be sent to a specialized hospital with conditions or treated by a neurosurgeon. Myth 4: Bleeding from the nose and ear canals should be blocked quickly After a craniocerebral injury, if the injured person’s nose or ear canals bleed more than, indicating that the skull base has been fractured. At this time, never use cotton balls or other items to block. Because the blood can not flow out of the blockage, it will flow back into the brain, thus causing intracranial hematoma, increased cranial pressure, and ultimately the casualty can die due to the formation of cerebral hernia. The correct approach is to let the casualty take a semi-recumbent position, so that the head is elevated, swabbing away the outflow of blood. Most skull base fractures will heal on their own within a week after the above treatment. Myth 5: Coma after wakefulness indicates that the condition has improved If the casualty is awake after a head injury or for a longer period of time, this kind of “wakefulness” is called the intermediate wakefulness period, which is a unique performance of intracranial hematoma. During this period, if craniotomy can be performed in time, most of them can achieve very good results. If this change is not detected in time, the patient will lose the opportunity for surgery as time goes on. For this reason, it is especially emphasized that no matter how long after the injury, as long as the comatose casualty is awake for a time and then becomes comatose again, the diagnosis of intracranial hematoma should be made without hesitation, and craniotomy should be performed as soon as possible.