Cerebral contusion | |
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CT scan showing cerebral contusions, hemorrhage within the hemispheres, subdural hematoma on the left, and skull fractures[1] | |
Specialty | Emergency medicine ![]() |
Complications | cerebral edema , transtentorial herination |
Cerebral contusion (Latin: contusio cerebri), a form of traumatic brain injury, is a bruise of the brain tissue.[2] Like bruises in other tissues, cerebral contusion can be associated with multiple microhemorrhages, small blood vessel leaks into brain tissue. Contusion occurs in 20–30% of severe head injuries.[3] A cerebral laceration is a similar injury except that, according to their respective definitions, the pia-arachnoid membranes are torn over the site of injury in laceration and are not torn in contusion.[4][5] The injury can cause a decline in mental function in the long term and in the emergency setting may result in brain herniation, a life-threatening condition in which parts of the brain are squeezed past parts of the skull.[3] Thus treatment aims to prevent dangerous rises in intracranial pressure, the pressure within the skull.
Contusions are likely to heal on their own without medical intervention.[6]
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