Head injuries

Pediatrician Alan Nagar, MD, MHA, Emergency Medicine, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, shares advice for treating your child's head injuries and how to tell the signs of the seriousness of the injury
Pediatric First Aid - Head Injuries In Children
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Head injuries

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Children who have head injuries require attention. Now there is a whole spectrum of head injuries. There is the child who has an incidental bump to the head and cries, resolves, and there are no further problems. But head injuries can be significant and very severe to the point where they can cause cranial bleeding or bleeding inside the head. So the best thing to do is to seek medical attention. And this is an example where a child could perhaps if he is stable, go to a pediatrician´s office. And by stable, I mean the child is crying but they are neurologically intact. So for instance, they can still talk. They can still walk. They can still crawl. Those are things that are good signs after a head trauma. On the other hand, a more signficant head trauma would alter a patient´s mental status or impair them neurologically. So that might be a child who for instance normally talks; is refusing to talk, is substantially irritable, has what we call waxing and waning mental status. In other words, they are sleepy and then they are sort of awake, then they are sleepy and then awake. Or a child who perhaps may be unresponsive. Those are the kinds of medical problems for which calling 911 and seeking emergency department care is the most appropriate thing to do at that moment.

Pediatrician Alan Nagar, MD, MHA, Emergency Medicine, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, shares advice for treating your child's head injuries and how to tell the signs of the seriousness of the injury

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Alan Nager, MD, MHA

Pediatrician, Emergency Medicine, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles

Dr. Alan Nager is Head of the Division of Emergency and Transport Medicine at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. He is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California. Dr. Nager received his undergraduate degree in Public Heath and Child Psychology, his graduate degree in Healthcare Administration, his medical degree from the University of Minnesota Medical School and his training in Pediatric Emergency Medicine at the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh.  He has lectured extensively on a variety of emergency medicine topics, appeared numerous times in the media, and published extensively on topics such as dehydration, trauma, mental health, disaster preparedness, etc. He has also authored a children’s book entitled, Angels in Action: One Day in the Emergency Department.

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Transcription: 
Children who have head injuries require attention. Now there is a whole spectrum of head injuries. There is the child who has an incidental bump to the head and cries, resolves, and there are no further problems. But head injuries can be significant and very severe to the point where they can cause cranial bleeding or bleeding inside the head. So the best thing to do is to seek medical attention. And this is an example where a child could perhaps if he is stable, go to a pediatrician´s office. And by stable, I mean the child is crying but they are neurologically intact. So for instance, they can still talk. They can still walk. They can still crawl. Those are things that are good signs after a head trauma. On the other hand, a more signficant head trauma would alter a patient´s mental status or impair them neurologically. So that might be a child who for instance normally talks; is refusing to talk, is substantially irritable, has what we call waxing and waning mental status. In other words, they are sleepy and then they are sort of awake, then they are sleepy and then awake. Or a child who perhaps may be unresponsive. Those are the kinds of medical problems for which calling 911 and seeking emergency department care is the most appropriate thing to do at that moment.