The diagnosis: After an accident, a woman appears to be hardly injured. Why is she still unconscious?

The emergency services announced to us a woman who probably suffered multiple injuries after an accident.

The diagnosis: After an accident, a woman appears to be hardly injured. Why is she still unconscious?

The emergency services announced to us a woman who probably suffered multiple injuries after an accident. The approximately 60-year-old had had a car with a frontal collision with a truck. So we waited for the "polytrauma"; I was working at a university clinic at the time. When the announcement was made over the phone, the paramedics reported that they had found the woman unconscious at the scene of the accident. In addition, their chest was unstable, they said, not moving evenly while breathing. The colleagues suspected a severe craniocerebral trauma and several broken ribs - life-threatening findings. When we were handed over, we were surprised: Apart from a few scratches and the coma, nothing seemed to indicate polytrauma.

Access to all STERN PLUS content and articles from the print magazine

ad-free

Already registered?

NEXT NEWS