NSAIDs and head injury
Date First Published:
October 23, 2007
Last Updated:
January 10, 2008
Report by:
Abdo Sattout, ST4 in Emergency Medicine (Macclesfield District General Hospital)
Search checked by:
Mark Nicol, Macclesfield District General Hospital
Three-Part Question:
In [a patient on regular NSAIDs - excluding Aspirin], does [a head injury] increase [the risk of intracerebral bleeding].
Clinical Scenario:
A 67 year-old presented to the emergency department following a head injury. He has no significant medical history apart from osteoarthritis for which he takes regular NSAIDs. He denies any intake of Aspirin.
You wonder if the use of regular NSAIDs increases the risk of intracerebral bleeding post head injury.
You wonder if the use of regular NSAIDs increases the risk of intracerebral bleeding post head injury.
Search Strategy:
Medline.
Pubmed.
Pubmed.
Search Details:
[NSAIDs] and [head injury] and [intracerebral bleeding or haemorrhage] limit to human and english language.
Outcome:
No papers met the search criteria.
Author Commentary:
Currently there has been no reports to link regular use of NSAIDs (excluding Aspirin) with an increase risk of intracerebral haemorrhage following a head injury.
Bottom Line:
So far there is no clinical evidence to suggest such possible association and further research into this is needed.