What is an epidural hematoma (EDH)?

What is an epidural hematoma (EDH)?

An epidural hematoma (EDH) is a collection of blood between your skull and the dura mater, the thick membrane that covers your brain.

Your brain has three membrane layers or coverings (called meninges) that lay between your bony skull and your brain tissue. The purpose of the meninges is to cover and protect your brain and spinal cord. The dura mater is the outermost meninges.

If you have an EDH, you’ve likely had a tear in a blood vessel, usually an artery but sometimes a vein, and blood is leaking into the dura mater. The blood that leaks forms a pocket that bulges out and puts pressure on your brain. This pressure can cause more brain injury.

If bleeding occurs within the spine, it’s called a spinal EDH.

Other names for EDH are extradural hematoma, epidural hemorrhage or intracranial hematoma. More broadly, it is also a type of traumatic brain injury (TBI).