Subarachnoid Haemorrhage Claims
If you or your loved one has suffered because doctors failed to diagnose and treat a subarachnoid haemorrhage, there may be grounds for a compensation claim. To find out more, you need to speak to a specialist solicitor without delay.
Subarachnoid haemorrhages
A subarachnoid haemorrhage is a type of stroke caused by bleeding on the brain. They account for around 9,000 hospital admissions in the UK every year. As a medical emergency, a subarachnoid haemorrhage must be diagnosed and treated without delay. Otherwise the brain will be badly damaged – due to the blood spilling onto the brain, and because of the reduced oxygen supply. This can leave a patient with permanent neurological complications, or can even be fatal.
Diagnosing and treating subarachnoid haemorrhages
A subarachnoid haemorrhage is characterised by very distinct symptoms, including a thunderclap headache, being sick, seizures and loss of consciousness. These symptoms should immediately guide medical professionals towards an accurate diagnosis. If time permits, their suspicions can be confirmed with a CT scan and a lumbar puncture.
Once diagnosed, no time should be wasted in providing treatment. A patient will normally need to be transferred to a specialist neurosciences unit, where he/she will receive the necessary care. This will ordinarily include medication and surgery to prevent further bleeding.
Failure to diagnose a subarachnoid haemorrhage
Sadly medical professionals do not always manage to successfully treat a subarachnoid haemorrhage. Sometimes this is because a patient simply doesn't reach a hospital in time; a subarachnoid haemorrhage can be acute and, in some instances, can be instantly fatal.
However, there are occasions in which medical professionals fail to recognise a patient's symptoms. Instead a patient is diagnosed with a more minor condition such as a migraine and discharged from hospital. This will lead to devastating consequences, as it is likely a patient will go on to suffer serious complications, which could have been avoided had a correct diagnosis been made.
Subarachnoid haemorrhage claims
If you or your loved one has suffered complications because of a subarachnoid haemorrhage – and you believe medical error is to blame – you need to speak to a solicitor. A legal expert will listen to the details of your case and consider whether there has been an incident of medical negligence. Questions that will need to be raised include:-
- Did the symptoms indicate the presence of a subarachnoid haemorrhage, and were these missed by medical practitioners?
- If a CT scan was undertaken, did it confirm the presence of a subarachnoid haemorrhage?
- Was the treatment appropriate for the patient based on the clinical findings?
- Were there delays in obtaining a more senior review?
- Were there delays in obtain a second opinion?
- Was transport used to transfer a patiently appropriately?
To have these questions investigated further, please get in touch with us today.
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