Subarachnoid haemorrhage
Overview
A subarachnoid haemorrhage is a rare but life-threatening type of stroke that needs emergency treatment. Find out about the symptoms, causes and recovery.
Symptoms
The main symptoms of a subarachnoid haemorrhage include: an extremely painful headache that starts suddenly and does not go away (called a "thunderclap headache")neck pain or a stiff neckfeeling and being sickbeing very sensitive to lighthaving a seizure (fit) or shaking uncontrollablyfainting, feeling sleepy (drowsy ) or being confuseddrooping on one side of your face, slurred speech, or weakness on one side of your body A subarachnoid haemorrhage can happen at any time, but it may be more likely when you're doing something like coughing, going to the toilet, lifting something heavy or having sex.
Causes
A subarachnoid haemorrhage most commonly affects people who have a bulge in a blood vessel in their brain, called abrain aneurysm. There's not always an obvious reason why you may have a brain aneurysm. Some people have them from birth, while others may get them later. You may be more likely to have a brain aneurysm if other people in your family have them. Most brain aneurysms do not cause problems, but if one bursts it can cause bleeding in the space between the inside of your skull and your brain (subarachnoid space). This type of bleeding is called a subarachnoid haemorrhage. Subarachnoid haemorrhages can also be caused by : a severe head injurya problem with the way the blood vessels in your brain have formed (arteriovenous malformation)
Treatment
The main treatment for a subarachnoid haemorrhage is surgery to stop the bleeding. This may be done by: removing a small piece of bone from the skull, using a tiny metal clip to seal the burst blood vessel (aneurysm) and then replacing the bone – called neurosurgical clippingputting a thin, flexible tube into an artery in your groin or leg, guiding it to where the burst blood vessel is, and passing tiny metal coils up the tube into the aneurysm to block it – called endovascular coiling You may also have treatment before and after surgery to help the symptoms of a subarachnoid haemorrhage and lower the risk of the bleeding happening again. This might include medicine to: help with painlower your blood pressureprevent seizures (fits) or coughingstop you feeling sicksoften your poo to make it easier to go to the toiletmake sure your blood flows properly
Prevention
Stop smoking; Control blood pressure.
When to see a doctor
CALL 999 IMMEDIATELY if: sudden severe headache/stiff neck/vomiting.