May 20th, 2009 Nursing Care of Subdural and Epidural Hematomas
Nursing care for the patient with a subdural hematoma is the same as for the epidural hematoma and should include:
- Obtaining an accurate history, especially the mechanism of injury and clinical course since that time
- Close monitoring of the neurological status, observing for signs of increased intracranial pressure
- Physical examination against a baseline neurological assessment
- Elevation of the head of the bed 300 to reduce the intracranial pressure
- Administration of diuretics such as mannitol, mild analgesics or codeine to control pain, and steroids such as dexamethasone according to physician’s prescriptions. In some cases, the nurse may also need to provide seizure precautions, including the administration of prophylactic anticonvulsants