Neurological Emergencies – Treatment for Stroke, Epilepsy
Neurological emergencies are life threatening conditions in which if the patient is not treated promptly they might face poor functional recovery. Acute neurological illness is one of the most common causes for emergency admission. The major emergencies are stroke, fainting and seizures.
Stroke
Stroke is an acute vascular event caused due to a block in the blood vessels. It is one of the most common causes of death and disability. Even then the awareness of the illness and preventive measures is less compared to heart attacks. Stroke is a treatable medical emergency where every second counts.
Stroke can happen to people of any age group.
The patient needs to be immediately brought to the hospital. Within three hours of stroke, thrombolysis has to be done. Then the severity of the stroke can be reduced which makes a difference in the outcome.
Fainting
Loss of consciousness or fainting is one of the most common neurological emergencies
- Hypertension
- Dislipidemia
- Diabetes
- Smoking
- Loss of consciousness
- Weakness of limbs
- Slurring
- Loss of speech
- Memory disturbance
- Epilepsy
- Sudden drop in pressure
- Stroke
- Poisoning
- Low sodium in the blood
- Renal dysfunction
Most of the causes are reversible. The outcome of this emergency depends on the treatment given for the primary condition.
Sudden onset severe headache
Patients with sudden onset of severe headache need to be examined immediately by a specialist carefully to exclude cases like
- Hemorrhage
- Meningitis
- Acute migraine
There are different types of seizures. Seizure activity may be simple blank staring or loss of consciousness with spasticity or even muscle jerking. The person’s seizure may begin with the person crying out or making some loud sound. The patient may also experience
- Abnormal stiffening
- Abnormal rhythmic jerking
- Unresponsiveness
- Incontinence of urine
Any seizure must be considered as an emergency and take the patient immediately to the hospital for emergency examination by a neurologist.