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Section-A Neurological Emergencies

BOOK TITLE: Emergency Medicine

Author
1. Mehta Arjun
ISBN
9788180615498
DOI
10.5005/jp/books/10253_1
Edition
1/e
Publishing Year
2005
Pages
31
Author Affiliations
1. Royal Victoria Hospital, Edinburgh, Royal Victoria Hospital, Edinburgh, UK
Chapter keywords
Acute stroke, coma, hypothermia, meningitis, viral encephalitis, subarachnoid haemorrhage, convulsions, headache, malaria, spinal cord compression, acute inflammatory polyneuritis, delirium

Abstract

The objective of this chapter is to familiarize the reader with neurological emergencies. The presence of headache, vomiting and coma at onset are more common in haemorrhagic stroke. Urgent neurosurgical assessment is required for subarchnoid haemorrhage, large cerebellar haematoma and hydrocephalous. Coma with hyperventilation causes ketoacidosis, liver failure, renal failure, etc. Two basic mechanisms to render a patient unconscious are damage to the reticular activating system in the brainstem and damage to the both cerebral hemispheres simultaneously. Hypothermia, meningitis, viral encephalitis, subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH), convulsions (status epilepticus), headache, malaria, spinal cord compression, acute inflammatory polyneuritis (guillain-barré syndrome) and delirium are the other neurological emergencies which are covered throughout this chapter along with their history, diagnosis, investigations and management.

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