We are the combination of four hospitals: the General Hospital, the Children’s Hospital, the Women’s Hospital and the Traumatology, Rehabilitation and Burns Hospital. We are part of the Vall d’Hebron Barcelona Hospital Campus: a world-leading health park where healthcare plays a crucial role.
Below we will list the departments and units that form part of Vall d’Hebron Hospital and the main diseases that we treat. We will also make recommendations based on advice backed up by scientific evidence that has been shown to be effective in guaranteeing well-being and quality of life.
Vols saber com serà la teva estada a l’Hospital Universitari Vall d’Hebron? Aquí trobaràs tota la informació.
A headache is the symptom that consists in presenting pain in any area of the head or face. It is very common, and practically everyone will suffer a headache at some point in life. The causes of headache are multiple, from diseases to trivial factors (such as headache attributed to a rhinosinusitis or the consumption of substances such as alcohol), from diseases that cause recurrent headaches (such as migraine or neuralgia) to serious illnesses that can put the life of the person at risk (such as cerebral haemorrhage or meningitis).
A headache is not a disease but a symptom of other diseases, usually neurological or alterations of cranial structures (musculature, bones, dental pieces, paranasal sinuses, etc.), they cause an activation of pain receptors that depend on the trigeminal nerve or the first cervical nerve roots.
Although the vast majority of people will present occasional and mild headaches, in some cases, the same headache and the rest of the symptoms of the diseases that cause it can interfere seriously in their usual daily life activities, generating disability and a significant decrease in quality of life. This combination of high prevalence, along with the great diversity of causes, some of them potentially disabling, makes the assessment of patients with headache a clinical challenge.
Headache is defined as presenting pain in any area of the head or face. When evaluating a person who has a headache it is important to specify the characteristics of the pain, these include:
In addition to the characteristics of pain, it is especially important to know what other symptoms accompany pain, since they give us a lot of information about the possible causes of a headache:
Most people will have a headache at some point in their life, and it is a symptom that can present at any stage from childhood to old age. Migraine and tension headaches are the most common causes of headache and particularly affect women aged between 15 and 55, being the third leading cause of disability in young adults (under 50 years of age).
Children and adolescents may also have headaches. Children have the same types of headaches as adults, but their symptoms can be a bit different, which can make it difficult to identify the type of headache.
Headaches are divided into 3 groups:
For most people who have headaches, especially those who have presented several episodes throughout their lives, the diagnosis will be made through clinical interview and physical exploration and, most of the time, will not require any tests. The way the episodes of headache present is the key to being able to make the correct diagnosis.
When faced with a first episode of headache, especially if it is sudden or accompanied by alarm signs (e.g. fever, cervical stiffness or neurological symptoms) it will be necessary to rule out that it is a serious secondary headache. In these cases it will be especially important to perform blood tests, cerebrospinal fluid and brain imaging tests such as CT scans or magnetic resonance imaging.
There are two types of treatment: Treatment of pain is usually performed with analgesic or anti-inflammatory drugs that will be adjusted according to the patient's response or tolerance. In addition, in cases of secondary headache it will be important to treat the cause. It is important to know that in the case of frequent headaches, understood as several days a month, the frequent use of painkillers can be harmful and the frequency must be evaluated with calendars in order to initiate preventive treatments, which aim to decrease the frequency and intensity of frequent headaches.
Most of the information required for diagnosis is obtained from clinical interview and physical examination, and thus most patients with headache, especially those who exhibit long-evolution headache episodes, will not need specific supplementary tests for diagnosis. The need for complementary explorations such as blood tests, cerebral or spinal neuroimaging (CT or MRI), lumbar puncture for cerebrospinal fluid tests or vascular tests are indicated in patients who present "alarm signs" that include:
Preventive strategies will be especially important in people with recurrent headaches such as migraine or tension headache, in order to minimize the factors that can make the headaches appear more frequently. It is especially important to have regular routines, perform correct sleep hygiene and regular exercise. These measures will also be important to prevent overloading of the cervical or cranial musculature; or strategies to minimize stress and mood disorders.
The Neurology Department treats neurological patients, both in primary care centres and at our renowned hospital centre. We have a specialist stroke area (strokes with cerebral blood flow disorders) to treat patients in the acute phase.
The Neurology Department at Vall d'Hebron University Hospital is made up of five specialised units: the Neurovascular Unit, the Dementia Unit, the Epilepsy Unit, the Neuromuscular Unit and the Cephalea and Neurological Pain Unit.
We offer patients all the latest neurology resources, such as emergency neurological care by our expert on-call neurologists. We are home to super-specialist neurology units. We are responsible for quality in the neurological care provided, not only in the hospital, but throughout the entire health area where we are a reference centre.
The Neurology Teaching Unit at Vall d’Hebron University Hospital is provided by the Neurology Department with participation from Internal Medicine, Cardiology, Psychiatry, Neurosurgery, Neurophysiology, Neuroradiology, Paediatrics, and A&E.
Neurology training itinerary
Healthcare activity in neurology combines writing medical histories, diagnostic data collection, correct use of complementary exploratory procedures, and accurate clinical and aetiologic diagnosis, as well as choosing appropriate palliative treatments. We also emphasise the role of the relationship between resident doctors and patients in the basic areas of Neurology.
A large number of medical conditions and neurological illnesses can result in critical emergency situations, such as strokes and lupus. With this in mind, from the second year the duty shifts in neurological emergencies become a key aspect of residents’ work, and are always carried out under supervision. Neurologists are also required to carry out a rotation in neurological outpatient care.
Research studies are part of the practical work that neurologists must deepen and develop, with particular emphasis on ethical competence when carrying out research.
Neuroscience research should be done under supervision of a tutor , and requires solid training in scientific methodology as well as in bioethics and scientific communication.
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