Brain and Head Injuries Forum - Seizure after head trauma

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Q: Seizure after head trauma

asked by: jenhill0604 on May 13th, 2009

New User

Background: My husband had a bicycle accident several weeks ago that involved closed head trauma. He has no memory of it. He lost consciousness repeatedly. He couldn't stand or walk on his own and talkming was difficult. (These symptoms continued, in varying degrees, for several hours.)

About 45 minutes later, he had an urgent need to defecate, a seizure (tonic clonic), then violent vomiting.

The hospital CT was fine, and subsequent MRI and EEG studies showed no brain or electrical abnormalities that would have triggered or resulted from the accident.

Question: Because he had a seizure (almost an hour after the accident), how likely is he to have a subsequent seizure, and during what time frame would it most likely occur?

Thank you for this service.

Replies(1)

Dr. Paul Wira , PHD

replied on May 25th, 2009

I am very happy to hear that his test were negative following the accident.Closed head trauma without damage to the cranial bones often causes the brain "to shake, vibrate and shift" with direct forceful contact to the inside of the skull. Swelling then occurs with pressure on the brain itself causing the problems your husband had.
Check with his neurologist but with a clean MRI & CT ,if the swelling has gone down, he should be well on the road to recovery. HOWEVER, he may be more likely than the average to sustain this type of injury again with any additional trauma. He must be very careful i.e. helmets, avoid dangerous activity and be careful.

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