what is the treatment for a stroke vs. a subdural hematoma and how would a Dr. confuse the 2?

Question

My relative presented at an emergency room with symtoms that had been getting worse for several weeks. After a CT,he was diagnosed with a subdural hematoma, transfered to another hospital where I met with a neurosurgeon who showed me the CT and told me that drains would need to be put in his head to drain off the fluid. The drains were put in ASAP and the fluid began to drain off and symptoms began to dissapear. As hoped, they were able to remove the drains and close the holes on the 3rd day. They were doing CTs on a regular basis until he was discharged. After returning home, I had need to call his regular Dr.and was told in the course of our conversation that this relative had suffered a stroke. I told him that this is NOT what we were told by the neurosurgeon and TRIED to inform him as to what action had taken place. He continued to insist that "it was a stroke". Don't I have to be sure that these Drs. are "on the same page" and that the regular Dr. knows what really took place?

Answer 1

Stroke is a general term. It means a cerebrovascular accident. This does not describe the nature or the range of the sickness. Stroke can be a hemorrhage or blood clotting in cerebral vessels of all sizes. Your relative had a stroke. That is a small blood vessel ruptured and bled. The blood collected under duramater and clotted. This is a subdural hematoma which the neurosurgeon drained.

Answer 2

A subdural hematoma is basically a clot in the brain. It can be caused by trauma such as a blow to the head or by an internal bleed usually caused by a ruptured blood vessel. This is known as a hemmorrhagic 'stroke'. It is one of three types of strokes.