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| Photo: Wikimedia Commons |
Originally Published: Common Sense, Jan/Feb 2012
Original Authors: Samantha Wood, MD; Michael Allison, MD; Adam Brenner, MD; Michael Scott, MD; Daniel Boutsikaris, MD; Chris Doty, MD FAAEM; and Michael Bond, MD FAAEM
Headache is a common symptom encountered in the emergency department (ED), representing about 2% of all presenting complaints.(1) Subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) is a neurosurgical emergency and is diagnosed in about 1-3% of such ED patients. Guidelines for evaluation and diagnosis of subarachnoid hemorrhage published in 2009 emphasize the need to maintain a high level of suspicion for SAH in patients with an acute severe headache and recommend evaluation with head computed tomography (CT) scan followed by lumbar puncture (LP) if the CT scan is negative.(2)
