Brief Answer:

There are some signs.

Detailed Answer:

Hello!

Head injuries in patients taking Warfarin can result in life-threatening bleeding inside the skull. Even minor injuries may cause bleeding.

The warning signs may include:
- Drowsiness, the patient may feel sleepy all the time,
- Coma, the patient remains unresponsive and cannot be awakened,
- Headache, a new headache after the injury may be a sign of bleeding,
- Nausea and vomiting,
- Increased systolic blood pressure due to the increased intracranial pressure,
- Bradycardia, slow heart rate due to the tumor effect of the blood collection,
- Various neurological signs which may resemble a stroke (like weakness, sensory deficits, etc)

In cases where a head injury occurs to patients under anticoagulant treatment, a CT-scan of the brain is an appropriate modality to exclude bleeding.

If you'd like to be sure then only the CT-scan may provide reliable evidence against bleeding. If she develops any of the aforementioned signs then going to the hospital ASAP would be your only option.

I hope you find my comments helpful. Let me know if I can assist you further.

Kind Regards,

Dr. Panagiotis Zografakis
Internal Medicine Specialist
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Brief Answer:
It's difficult to say...

Detailed Answer:

Hello!

Whether it's a terrible idea or not can be judged only by the outcome. I can say that taking Warfarin after an injury that caused bleeding may be fatal. I can't confirm that this is the right mode of action though. The best thing to do would be a CT-scan of the brain.

If she was one of my patients and I knew that she had no other option, I might have instructed her to skip the Warfarin until everything seemed fine. I would have been very puzzled if she took Warfarin because of a metallic heart valve though.

I hope it helps.

Kind Regards,
Dr. Panagiotis Zografakis
Internal Medicine Specialist

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Brief Answer:
You're welcome.

Detailed Answer:

You're welcome, glad to help!

Regards,
Dr. Panagiotis Zografakis
Internal Medicine Specialist

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