Subdural Hematoma After a Car Accident: What Virginia Families Should Know

A subdural hematoma is bleeding between the brain and the tough layer that covers it. A car crash can cause one. Symptoms may not appear right away, so anyone hit in the head should be checked by a medical provider, even if they feel fine. This guide explains what a subdural hematoma car accident injury involves, in plain words, and how it can connect to a personal injury claim in Virginia.

What Is a Subdural Hematoma?

A subdural hematoma is a collection of blood in the subdural space, the gap between the dura mater and the arachnoid layer. The dura mater is the tough outer membrane that wraps the brain. The arachnoid layer is a thin membrane just beneath it.

Blood in this gap takes up room inside the skull. The skull is rigid, so there is little space to spare. As the blood builds up, it presses on brain tissue. That pressure, more than the blood alone, is often what causes symptoms.

Doctors sometimes call this kind of bleed a brain bleed, a term many people first hear from a family member or an online search. Doctors describe a bleed by its size, its location and how it developed. Those details guide what happens next, including whether the bleed is watched or treated.

How a Car Crash Can Cause a Subdural Hematoma

A car crash can cause a subdural hematoma when the head moves suddenly and hard inside the vehicle. The brain is soft and sits loosely inside the skull. In a sudden stop or impact, it can shift and twist within that space.

Small veins cross the subdural space and link the brain to its outer covering. When the brain moves, those veins can stretch and tear. The blood that leaks out collects in that gap.

The force does not have to come from a single hard blow. Common impacts include the head striking the steering wheel, a window, a roof pillar or the dashboard. A person can also be thrown around the cabin during a crash.

For the wider picture, read about traumatic brain injury after car and truck crashes.

Signs and Symptoms to Watch For

Warning signs include a headache that keeps getting worse, unusual drowsiness and trouble staying awake. Confusion, repeated vomiting, and weakness or numbness on one side of the body also matter. Slurred speech, vision changes, unequal pupils and seizures are other signs.

Symptoms can start hours or days after the crash. A person who seemed fine at the scene can still be hurt inside the skull. Family members often notice changes first, such as someone who is more confused or sleepier than usual.

Anyone with these signs after a head impact should get emergency medical care right away. Do not wait to see whether the symptoms pass on their own.

Types of Brain Bleeds: Acute, Subacute, Chronic and Delayed

Doctors often label a subdural hematoma as acute, subacute or chronic. The label describes how long the blood has been present. It is a timing term, not a full measure of the injury.

A delayed subdural hematoma is one that becomes apparent after the first evaluation. The first scan may look reassuring, and a bleed can still show up later. That is why follow-up imaging and monitoring can matter.

You may also see other terms in medical records. An epidural hematoma is bleeding above the dura. An intracerebral hemorrhage is bleeding inside brain tissue. A separate injury called diffuse axonal injury can occur alongside bleeding, so records may list more than one problem.

Dents, Skull Fractures and What They Miss

A dent, bruise or swelling does not show what is happening inside the skull. The outside of the head can look minor while bleeding is present underneath. Patients often ask whether a forehead dent means something is wrong. The dent alone does not answer that question.

A skull fracture can go along with a subdural hematoma, but it is not required for one. A normal skull X-ray also does not rule out bleeding. Any head injury with a dent, a deep wound or new symptoms deserves prompt medical evaluation.

How Doctors Diagnose and Treat a Subdural Hematoma

Doctors usually start with a CT scan, which uses X-rays to build images of the brain. An MRI may follow in some situations. Imaging is how the bleed is found and measured.

Treatment depends on the bleed’s size and location. It also depends on the person’s symptoms and how well the brain is working. Some small bleeds are watched with repeat imaging. Larger bleeds may need surgery to drain the blood, through a small opening called a burr hole or a larger one called a craniotomy.

Medical teams decide the approach from the scan and the physical exam together. Recovery varies widely from person to person, and it can take a long time.

How a Subdural Hematoma Fits Into a Car or Truck Crash Claim

A claim usually rests on medical records that link the injury to the crash. Those records include emergency visit notes, imaging reports, neurology or surgical notes and follow-up care. Written notes of when symptoms started and how they changed can help describe the injury accurately.

In a truck crash, other records may matter too. Federal rules require covered drivers to record their duty status for each 24-hour period (49 CFR § 395.8).

Virginia generally allows two years from the date of injury to file a personal injury lawsuit (Va. Code § 8.01-243(A)); the clock runs from the date of injury, not the date of discovery, with narrow exceptions.

Steps to Take After a Crash With a Head Injury

Get a medical evaluation soon after the crash, even when symptoms seem mild. Tell the provider about the crash and every symptom, including the ones that seem small.

Virginia requires a driver involved in a crash with injury or death to stop and report it to police immediately (Va. Code §§ 46.2-371, 46.2-894). The two-year period is the deadline to file a lawsuit, not to report a crash.

Keep the crash report, photos, insurance letters and discharge papers together in one place. A single folder makes it easier to see the timeline later. Dates and records are the details that medical teams and anyone reviewing the claim tend to ask for first.