A sub arachnoid haemorrhage is a sudden leak of blood which spreads over the surface of the brain. The majority of these haemorrhages are caused as a result of a weakness in the wall of a blood vessel resulting in a rupture caused by the pressure of blood. Smokers with high blood pressure are at greatest risk. The injury is more common in older people however aneurysms do occur in young people with no obvious risk factors and it most often occurs at a time of physical effort such as coughing, going to the toilet, heavy lifting, or straining, or during sex. The initial symptom is often a sudden, severe headache which usually persists for more than an hour, often at the back of the head, which is followed by being sick. In severe cases a fit, collapse and loss of consciousness may occur.
Diagnosis is often difficult and patients may arrive at the hospital having suffered from a sudden, severe headache which may have cleared to leave them well, with no physical signs or at the other end of the spectrum the patient may be in a coma. Numerous warning symptoms may give an indication of a bleed in the brain however diagnosis is often missed by specialist consultants even though the warning symptoms prior to a major haemorrhage occur in about 50% of all patients. If a sub arachnoid haemorrhage does subsequently occur and causes physical injury or death that might have been avoided with proper diagnosis then the healthcare professionals involved in the initial treatment may have been negligent and liable to pay compensation for any medical negligence claims made against them.
Both subdural haemorrhage which is often slowly evolving, frequently starting after trauma to the head and extradural haemorrhage which usually occurs after a head injury are often not diagnosed resulting in serious subsequent injury or death.
All three of these conditions may require surgery to repair the damage that has been caused however operations to repair the damage can be negligently performed, and if this negligence causes damage that otherwise would not have occurred, then it may be possible to recover compensation.
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