Meningitis

To facilitate timely diagnosis and to prevent development of serious complications of meningitis, using diagnostic algorithms.

A characteristic feature in many of purulent meningitis was a short initial period of the disease, on average, from the inception of disease until the symptoms pass 24 hours.

Early signs of meningitis may be found in the early hours and the first day. These include headaches, predominantly in frontal sections and the eyeball, rapidly growing, raspirayuschego nature and the accompanying nausea and vomiting, the disease often begins badly - with a sudden feeling of heat or chill with increased body temperature. By the earliest symptoms include pain with palpation eyeball through the closed eyelids. The emergence of meningiticheskoy posture indicates the duration of illness more than a day. Often when meningococcal meningitis detected herpetic rash on his face, already in the early hours of a hemorrhagic zvezdchataya spotted or rozeoleznaya rash - when meningokoktsemii or when combined with meningitis.

Set a final diagnosis of meningitis and differentiate abscess from serous impossible without a study of liquor. This fact underlines the absolute need for immediate hospitalization at the slightest suspicion for meningitis. Urgent diagnostic procedures is the lumbar puncture.

When a patient with suspected meningitis are estimated severity of the state, and depending on it was decided either in the general direction of the chamber, or in severe forms of the disease, the intensive care unit, or in his absence in the intensive care unit. Urgent lumbar puncture for investigation of liquor shows all patients with suspected meningitis. Contraindications are the only detection of stagnant nipples eye on the bottom and shift «M-echo» with ehoentsefalografii, which may indicate the presence of brain abscess. In these rare cases, patients should be examined by a neurosurgeon.