Hematoma - Its medical term for collection of blood under the skin, and in the muscle or inside an organ.
Usually, the blood tends to collect when blood vessels rupture.
It can occur in any part of the body, and therefore, there are many kinds of hematomas.
The most serious kind is the one that develops inside the brain, can occur in any part of it, based on the location of the hematoma, it is named.
Generally, It occurs when a person sustains a traumatic injury on the soft tissue of the body.
It has been seen that people who have weak blood vessels are more prone to developing hematomas.
The skin often gets discolored and may appear bluish or black in color.
The site of the hematoma will be painful and inflamed. When a hematoma occurs in the brain, it may or may not causes symptoms.
However, after a few days of sustaining the injury, the person may complain of headache, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, dilation of pupils, and drowsiness.
The treatment for hematoma is dependent on the type of hematoma, its size and its location. If the hematoma is superficial, then it may not require any treatment as it generally heals on its own in a few days time.
To alleviate the pain, ice packs can be applied to injury site many times a day. This will also facilitate the healing process. In case the hematoma occurs in the leg, then ice pack will help, but the person should restrict the movement of the affected leg.
Putting a compression bandage on the injury site will facilitate in the blood being resorbed by the body.
In case the hematoma is large, then a surgical procedure would have to be conducted to drain out the blood. This is also true for hematomas that develop after an invasive surgery.
If the hematoma is present within the soft tissue of the brain, it is treated as a medical emergency. If the size of the hematoma is small, then the patient will be carefully monitored as the hematoma is often resorbed by the body without any medical treatment.
However, if the hematoma does not disappear on its own in a few days time, then a small surgical procedure is necessary. The neurosurgeon will drill a small opening in the skull and suck out the accumulated blood through the hole.
However, if the hematoma is located in the dura, then craniotomy is required where the skull is surgically opened to remove the accumulated blood.
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