What Causes Fever After Having A Nasty Head Injury?

Posted on Sat, 3 Jan 2015

Question: Hi - my three year old had a nasty head injury on Sunday morning (it is now Wed evening). My 12-year old was exiting the sliding door of the minivan (no automatic doors) and he was pulling the door shut hard when the 3-yr-old was trying to exit (he usually exits the other side any the older child wasn't looking). The door slammed on the 3-year-olds head, just behind the temple, closer to the ear. There was initially a big dent where the door hit, but my son was alert and crying. He cried for a good five minutes, then calmed down and returned to fairly normal activity. He was difficult to wake from nap that afternoon but otherwise seemed ok other than the goose egg, which was by then swelling out and bruising. Next morning he cried and was clinging when being dropped at preschool which is unusually, however, when I picked him up at noon he was fine and acting normally so I did not call the ped. Tues he seemed alright. This afternoon, he came to me crying and yelling that his head hurt so bad all over. When I checked him, he had a fever of 101. I'm wondering if this could be related to the head injury on Sunday or is it more likely a coincidental virus he has picked up? I plan on calling the ped in the morning but was hoping for some guidance tonight. Thanks in advance for any assistance!

Answered by Dr. Deepak Kishore Kaltari (13 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
Fever not due to Head injury

Detailed Answer:
Hi
Welcome to Healthcaremagic
Greetings of the day
Dear Ms

The cause of Fever is unlikely to be due to Head injury . In the absence of any other localising signs of infection it is likely to be non specific viral infection.

Head injury does not cause fever. Fever usually occurs in head injury when there is infection of scalp hematoma , which is unlikely in your son going by description provided.

If the following criteria are fulfilled there is no cause for concern

1 . Child accepting feeds well
2. Child is playful when there is no fever

I would suggest you the following

1. Continue giving Tylenol (Paracetamol ) 6th hourly. It will take care of both headache and fever

2. Tepid sponging : Whole body tepid sponging with tap water at room temperature 15 minutes after giving Tylenol will rapidly bring down the temperature.

3. Ensure adequate intake of water : 1 cup of water 1 hour before meals and 1 cup of water 1 hour after every meals will ensure adequate intake of water. Inadequate intake of water will also lead to persistent fever (Dehydration fever )

4. Ensure adequate intake of nutritious food

Do get back to me if you need any further assistance, will be glad to assist you.

Take care

Best regards
Dr Deepak Kaltari
Consultant Pediatric Surgeon

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Yogesh D