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Extradural hematoma is a serious brain injury caused by bleeding between the dura and the skull, often resulting from a skull fracture. It is more common in children and adolescents and requires immediate surgery. Symptoms include loss of consciousness, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, and confusion. CT scans are used to confirm the injury, and surgery involves drilling a hole in the skull to relieve pressure and drain blood. Survivors may experience brain damage and complications such as seizures.
An extradural hematoma is characterized by bleeding between the dura, or outer covering of the brain, and the skull. This type of brain injury is often the result of a skull fracture. Children and adolescents are more prone to developing an extradural hematoma than adults because the dura is not as firmly attached to the skull in younger patients. An extradural hematoma is a serious medical emergency and almost always requires immediate brain surgery to save the patient’s life.
There is a typical pattern of events present in patients with an extradural hematoma, but it is important to note that this pattern is not always present. Therefore, any head injury should be considered a medical emergency. A patient with this type of injury usually loses consciousness for a short time. The patient will then appear alert for a while and then lose consciousness again.
Other potential symptoms that suggest the possibility of an extradural hematoma include nausea and vomiting following a head injury, dizziness, or confusion. It is common for the pupil of one eye to become enlarged while muscle weakness occurs on the opposite side of the body. These symptoms can develop within minutes or even hours after a head injury.
Medical tests such as a CT scan may be ordered to confirm the skull fracture or extradural hematoma. This test will show the location and amount of the bleeding as well as any swelling of the brain that may be present. Emergency surgery generally follows this diagnostic test.
Surgery for an extradural hematoma typically involves drilling a small hole in the skull. This relieves some of the pressure on the brain and allows the surgeon to drain some of the blood that has accumulated inside the skull. Depending on the extent of the damage, a larger hole may need to be drilled or a drainage device known as a shunt may need to be implanted. It is not unusual for a patient suffering from this type of injury to be placed on life support during and after this type of operation.
An extradural hematoma is a very serious injury, and even with the best medical intervention available, death or disability is a very real possibility. Patients who survive this injury are often left with varying degrees of brain damage, some permanent and sometimes temporary. Complications, such as seizures, can arise months or even years after an injury to this area of the brain.
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