EPIDURAL VS. SUBDURAL BLEEDING AND HEMATOMA

                           Epidural vs. subdural bleed

Scenario 1: Tim was on a ladder at work.
He lost his balance and fell to the ground.

He will later be diagnosed with an epidural bleed. 

Scenario 2 :Mrs. A has a history of alcohol
ingestion in excess. She has been falling
a lot. She is now unconscious.

Updated 1/25

Dear nurses,

The Clinical Setting Step by Step is no longer available.

Epidural vs. subdural bleed

An epidural bleed is an arterial bleed.The patient
has a brief period of unconsciousness,following injury. 
He then becomes lucid and quickly progresses to 

unconsciousness and possible coma. 

A common site for injury is the meningeal artery which
 runs close to the surface, behind the ear.

A subdural bleed ( hematoma) is venous and progresses
 slowly. The patient may not experience any symptoms
 for a few days. It may even become chronic. 

Suspect a subdural bleed , if the patient had a fall / head injury 
and was initially okay, then later becomes unconscious.
It is common in alcoholics.

                      Learn more about:  Subarachnoid hemorrhage

When a trauma happens it takes all hands on deck to
stabilize and transfer a patient to a trauma center.

Trauma centers may range from Level 1- 4 and the
type of care which is available will be determined
by which level the patient is transported to.
Learn more:
Nick in the ICU

In the above image, examples of how brain injuries
can occur, are shown. Click on the links:
ICP monitoring

Stroke and ICP

for more information.