CEREBROSPINALECTOMYER: "Worst headache of her life." Me: "How fast did it come on?" ER: "She said one second." Me: "I'm already in the elevator." What's the version at your hospital? Send this to whoever taught you that the speed of onset matters more than the severity.
EXPLAINED (ACCURACY-CHECKED)
A thunderclap headache — one that reaches maximal intensity within seconds to about a minute — is a red-flag presentation requiring urgent evaluation for subarachnoid hemorrhage and other serious causes.
Well-established: thunderclap headache (maximal intensity in <1 minute) is a red flag mandating urgent evaluation for SAH.
PERMANENT LINK
https://cerebrospinalectomy.com/jokes/er-worst-headache-of-her-life-2/
https://cerebrospinalectomy.com/jokes/er-worst-headache-of-her-life-2/
Reprint anywhere, non-commercially, with attribution to cerebrospinalectomy.com. We punch at specialties, the system, and ourselves — never at patients.