Head Trauma (HB)

Head trauma is a simple problem. It is JUST trauma to the patient’s head with NO changes to mental status. This can take the form of a cut or bruise or broken nose—whatever. The result is soft tissue injury or impact to the head—the patient did not lose consciousness, “see stars,” or whatever.

This is a differential diagnosis in that a patient cannot have a head injury AND a traumatic brain injury. They have one or the other. While the mechanism could be identical, the anticipated problems are different.