Exam III Flashcards
Brain injury stats
- falls are number one cause
- MVA is second leading cause and most likely to be hospitalized
Most common S/S of TBI
- headaches
- neck pain
- difficulty remembering or concentrating
- difficulty with thinking, speaking, reading
- fatigue
- changes in sleep patterns
- dizziness
- nausea
- vomiting
- blurred vision
- increased sensitivity to lights, sounds
- changes in taste/smell
Local (focal) brain damage
-contusions, lacerations, hematomas, herniations
Diffuse brain damage
- axonal shearing, small hemorrhages
- most common in a MVA
Secondary brain damage
- occurs after either a local or diffuse brain injury
- edema, hypoxia, hypotension, infection, salt/water imbalance, concussions or post-traumatic epilepsy (can begin months to year after injury)
Scalp injuries
- abrasion/contusion
- hematoma/herniation
- scalp laceration
Skull fractures
- linear
- comminuted
- compound
Intracranial injuries
- concussion
- epidural hematoma
- subdural hematoma
- ICP monitoring
see a lot of epidural and subdural hematomas in inpatient
Traumatic cerebro-vascular lesions
- aneurysms
- carotid-cavernous fistulas
CN pathology
-most commonly injured are CN II, III, VI, VII, VIII
Prognosis (staging recovery)
- glasgow coma scale
- rancho los amigos cognitive scale
Abscess
enclosed infection with some sort of covering
Meningitis
inflammation of the menginges
CNS infectious disease-therapist guidelines
- self protect form contagious diseases
- understand how etiology and prognosis affects treatment goals
- be able to communicate with other health care providers
- be able to provide patient and family education
Infection
- bacterial
- parasitic
- fungal
- viral
- all of these attack the CNS (most hematogenously, but some through the PNS like rabies, herpes)
Prion
only made up of proteins, no RNA or DNA replication (mad cow disease)
Categorized by location and cause
- brain abscess
- meningitis (leptomeninges=pia and arachnoid mater)
- bacterial, viral or chronic
- Encephalitis
- acute or slow virus
Brain Abscesses
- organisms reach brain tissue (staph, psuedomonas)
- secondary to inflammatory process elsewhere (lungs, heart, sinuses, ear mastoiditis)
- Involves white matter, often reaches frontal and parietal lobes through sup. sagittal sinus
- genearlized infection and increased ICP–specific neuro symptoms
S/S of brain abscesses
- headaches
- convulsions
- hemiparesis
- incoordination
- symptoms depend on where abscess is
Leptomeningitis
- infection spread through CSF with inflammatory process of pia mater, arachnoid mater, and superficial CNS tissue to include subarachnoid space
- organisms cross BBB and blood-CSF-barrier OR with trauma to torn meninges from a contaminated wound
- CSF self contained with no antibodies and few cells–ideal growth medium for micro-organisms
- usually classified as bacterial or viral
Bacterial Meningitis
acute vs. subacute vs. chronic
- inflamed congested pia-arachnoid mater with PMN exudate–obstructs ventricular foramina–INCREASED ICP
- decreased blood sugar levels
- untreated leads to death
Bacterial meningitis agents+ages
Neonate-e.coli
Childhood-H. influenzae
Adolescent-N. meningitides
Adult-S. pneumonia
S/S of bacterial meningitis
- headaches
- vomiting
- fever
- altered consciousness
- convulsions
- nuchal rigidity
- irritability
Biggest difference bw bacterial and viral
Decreased blood sugar in bacterial bc the bacteria use the sugar