Head injuries-All that you need to know

A person will inherently lose consciousness after having a head injury. The condition of the patient is defined with the time taken to get back into conscious state. This will define the patient’s survival chances

The department of Neuro-Rehabilitation in collaboration with department of Neuro Sciences, KIMS, organised a two-day workshop on head injury, coma & cognitive rehabilitation on Saturday.

The workshop focussed on aspects like immediate support for accident victims, the treatment to be followed after diagnosing the severity of the injury, the rehabilitation part, post surgery handling, and training the members of the victim.

In a recent survey, it was noted that nearly 2.5 million accidents occur every year where over five lakh are fatal while 2 lakh have moderate to severe injury.

Advising on the steps to be taken after a person meets with head injury in an accident, Dr Ajay, HOD, Neuro-Rehabilitation, KIMS says, “Any patient needs medical help immediately after meeting with an accident. In case of head injury, ambulance needs to be alerted first.

The level of consciousness and the response to touch, the pulse and the breathing rate needs to be checked.” Commenting on the treatment he says, “It begins with a CT scan to know the condition of the injured person. Depending on the reports we go for medical or surgical treatment.”

“Two types of treatments are given after diagnosing the level of injury. In case of medical treatment, we monitor the patient in ICU and observe if his condition getting progressive or regressive. In case of severe head injury, we go for surgical treatment where we operate the person by removing the clot from the head,” he explained.

“A person will inherently lose consciousness after having a head injury. The condition of the patient is defined with the time taken to get back into conscious state. This will define the patient’s survival chances,” he adds.

“If the patient takes 5-6 hours to come back to conscious state, the condition is mild. If he takes 6-24 hours, it is moderate and more than 24 hours is severe injury,” the doctor classified.

“A person requires proper medical treatment when his head is injured. People should be aware of good hospitals that have quick and best equipments to treat the injured immediately. Shifting patients from one hospital to another, without giving them immediate medical support would put their life in danger,” Dr Ajay suggests.

“With proper treatment the injured can be cured from his damaged state but depending on the severity their daily routine is depended. Mild injured patients can get back to work after a couple of weeks, whereas there are 50-50 chances for patients with moderate head injuries.

In the case of severe head injuries, the patients will require an assistant to help them in everything and 90 percent of them may not lead a normal life again,” the doctor explained.

Discussing the recent trends and advances in head injury rehabilitation, the doctor mentions about “Robotic training, unwilling system, gait training and common therapy.”

“Use of helmets and seat belts is the minimum precautionary measure one can take during driving. Drink and drive should be avoided,” the doctor warned.