Head Injury

[aaronokon]

My spouse was attacked by men with baseball bats on August 16th of this year, they split his scalp wide open he had 40 staples, and 200 plus stitches.  has had a headache since, underwent an ekg, and now is scheduled for an MRI.  I am very concerned because since he was attacked he keeps passing out sometimes more than once a day, and has constantly been complaining of a headache, and feeling extremely tired.  He cannot concentrate whatsoever, and when he saw a neurologist the neurologist asked him if he could remember some words and he could not a few minutes later.  My husband already has a TBI from being in Iraq, and now this.  What warning or emergency signs should I watch for.  Is this all normal after a head injury?  He was in bed for 5 days after the attack sleeping mostly.

[Dr. Kokil Mathur]

Hi
Welcome to the forum!
Caregiver is right! With a previous history of TBI and then this major assault your spouse should not be discharged at all without MRI or CT scan. Yes again as Caregiver said EKG is meaningless.
Please report to an ER as soon as possible and get him investigated in lines of a traumatic brain injury ASAP.
As Caregiver said, in all probability you would eventually need to wait and watch but one has to be 100% sure there is no bleed inside and that it is just concussion.
Hope this helps. Please let me know if there is any thing else and do keep me posted. Take care!

[caregiver222]

He is just being scheduled for an MRI almost three months after the attack? Did you say you lived in Somalia?  And the treating physician recieved his medical degree by sending in boxtops? The window of opportunity for intervening is short, and it was apparently missed. An EKG is meaningless. Your husband had a concusssion and possibly a bleed inside his brain. I am stunned that an MRI was not performed within an hour after his hospital admission. There may be a missing piece here. Perhaps he was given a CT scan and doesn't remember. Often the MRI machines are nbot available 24/7. All of this being said, very little can be done to improve outcomes after missing a treatment opportunity. Some people recover one hundred percent and others do not. It's a matter of "watchful waiting".