Get ready for the Paramedic Readiness Exam 5. Study with multiple-choice questions, detailed explanations, and effective strategies. Enhance your exam preparedness today!

Multiple Choice

A 43-year-old male involved in a motor vehicle collision has a forehead contusion, headache, and nausea. He was unconscious for about one minute after the impact and now asks what happened. What is the most likely diagnosis?

Concussions are mild traumatic brain injuries that cause temporary disruption of brain function after head trauma. A brief loss of consciousness (about a minute) followed by a rapid return to normal or near-normal function, with only a headache or nausea, is classic for a concussion. There are no focal neurological deficits or progressive symptoms described, which supports a mild injury rather than a more serious bleed or fracture. In contrast, a skull fracture would usually present with localized skull tenderness or deformity; an epidural hematoma often features a lucid interval with rapid deterioration from an arterial bleed; a subdural hematoma tends to develop symptoms over hours to days and can worsen gradually. Thus this presentation best fits a concussion.

Concussions are mild traumatic brain injuries that cause temporary disruption of brain function after head trauma. A brief loss of consciousness (about a minute) followed by a rapid return to normal or near-normal function, with only a headache or nausea, is classic for a concussion. There are no focal neurological deficits or progressive symptoms described, which supports a mild injury rather than a more serious bleed or fracture. In contrast, a skull fracture would usually present with localized skull tenderness or deformity; an epidural hematoma often features a lucid interval with rapid deterioration from an arterial bleed; a subdural hematoma tends to develop symptoms over hours to days and can worsen gradually. Thus this presentation best fits a concussion.