Hi everyone, is brain swelling normal after ruptured aneurysm clipping? I mean the first three days, it was way worst with one eye totally closed. But now it’s like a tennis ball forming near the surgery side.
Thank you very much for support.
Hoping members who’ve had a craniotomy reply. But I am curious, is your mom still in ICU? If so, ask her doctors or the RN assigned to her. Seems a lot of our members both with craniotomy (clips) and endovascular (coiling) require a shunt to deal with hydrocephalus. I am not a doctor, just curious. Maybe they’re treating it with some type of medication or they’re following it. If she’s out of ICU, call her doctor or ask through her patient portal.
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Hello, Thank you so much for your reply.
When she was in the ICU, the swelling was way worse, they used something called external ventricular drain. She was also prescribed a medicine called Dazen in my country (serrapeptase), which they said is good for that.
I talked to her doctors and they said it is normal and should improve over time but I am still worried about the ball forming (which also they said is normal, without examination).
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I would be concerned as well despite what the docs say. Most times we have to put some level of trust in their experience and knowledge. Yes it sucks, but they know a lot more than we do. Have they suggested to do anything for her?
Hi @Salma -
I am an endovascular patient but (long story) I was also on an EVD for a little bit last year like your Mom. They did not install any prescriptions for me for swelling afterwards, but re-installed an internal drain for the cerebral spinal fluid, thereby reducing the impact of the hydrocephalus. I can’t speak to whether the face swelling either way, as I was a fall-risk, so I have no idea what I looked like for about 3 weeks! 
Presuming you haven’t done this already (!), my only other thought along with @Moltroub is whether you can diary the swelling, and say on X day at Y time it was this mm/cm by that mm/cm while at Z time it was this by that. Perhaps that may either encourage the medical team to see your Mom, or alternatively say to you, let us know when it gets this large.
On behalf of your Mom (and as a fellow patient!), thank you for being such a kind, caring, and supportive daughter!
Please keep us posted on how you both are doing!
Fin Whale Fan 
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Day 2 after my craniotomy for clipping my ruptured annie, I looked like I got into a bar fight! My left eye was swelled shut for 4-5 days. Nurses let me use ice packs to bring the swelling down. 7 months later, my left side will swell a little near the plates when there are major shifts in the weather.
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Hey Salma,
My name is Merl, I’m a member of the Modsupport Team.
I too have had craniotomies, and that fluid build-up is not unusual. Under normal circumstances the skull is a sealed unit, this seal helps to maintain the fluid pressure around the brain. The fluid acts as a shock absorber so that when we move our head suddenly, our brain does not smack up against the inside of the skull. With a craniotomy that seal is broken, and the fluid is able to escape from the skull and can collect between the scalp/skin and the skull/bone. The body naturally tries to maintain the intracranial pressure within the skull and produces more cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) to do so.
With my initial craniotomy I had a friend visit, she was cracking jokes, making me laugh, but in doing so I heard this noise, like someone drinking milk through a straw and it was loud. It shocked the daylights out of me and I asked ‘Did you hear that?’ but they all looked at me strangely, ‘Hear what?’ It was explained to me by the Dr’s that by laughing I was exerting myself and the fluid was squirting out of my skull under pressure around the edges of the bone cap they had removed and replaced. As the bone meshed back together the seal was reestablished. For some patients the body will reabsorb the fluid if there is a route for it to do so, for others they may need a drain tube or medications to assist in reabsorptions of that fluid.
With my 2nd craniotomy I was (semi) prepared for the same thing, but I ended up with a hematoma (like a tennis ball) on the side of my head and it was squishy. I was very concerned that it was blood collecting under my scalp but I was reassured that it was CSF. My skull had re-sealed OK, but now the fluid was sealed under the skin, outside of the skull. I was informed that had it been blood it would have congealed and be much more firm than squishy like the fluid. The medicos recommended allowing the body to deal with it and sure enough, it did dissipate without intervention.
The CSF is produced in the brain, we produce around 600ml per day and naturally drains out of the skull through a small tube called the aqueduct in the spinal cord. They found I have a growth in my brain which is restricting the natural flow via the aqueduct and decided I needed a shunt, a plastic tube, to drain the fluid from my skull. The shunt is a permanent fixture, draining the fluid from my head into me peritoneal cavity/intestinal cavity. For some patients they can perform a procedure called an ETV, in very basic terms, they make a channel for the fluid to drain through. The medicos will use the less invasive methods first ie medications to allow the body to manage/recover naturally if it can. If the body cannot deal with it there are other options.
Now, in saying all of this, your mom has just had major brain surgery and it takes time for the brain and body to adjust to the changes. The medicos will often give us a 6-8week recovery period and for bone/muscle that 6-8weeks is about right, but the for the brain itself it can take much longer. The recovery process is a slowly, slowly thing and it is not a straight line of progression. She will have good days and bad days, so patience from all involved will be a must. Some people think ‘surgery… …fix… …and life goes back to normal’, but with neurosurgery that is not always the case. Some can recover almost miraculously with very little impact, for others it can take a while to recover, but for some there can be lingering issues. As your mom only had surgery last week, she’s still in her recovery period.
Hope it helps
Merl from the Modsupport Team
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My eye saelled completely shut after my craniotomy and my jaw was massive but this was all a result of them cutring away my jaw muscle to get to my skull.
You are at risk for vasospasms during and after the craniotomy and additional vrain swelling is a risk. I had vasospasms and swelling due to the blood that had contacted my brain. Fortunately it didnt cause any noticeable long term damage.
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Sorry for the spelling errors…no autocorrect?!?
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Thank you very much for the reply.
Please can i ask you, when after the surgery you had the vasospasm?
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It happened during the first 48 to 72 hours after surgery I believe.
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Yes, there is autocorrect on my tablet. Sometimes it corrects to the wrong word. Sometimes it just underlines in blue dashes. Oh I’m using an iPad, I’ve got my settings set up to correct me.
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Hello everyone,
Thank you for all your replies, they have been so reassuring and helpful 
.
Updates. The swelling is much better now, she had her first medical follow up today (17th day post surgery) and half of her stitches were removed.
Fortunately she didn’t have any complications; but minor memory issues related to recent events still occur.
However, she became lately so talkative and energetic, she’s able to walk without help and do small activities. The doctor said it’s the medicine effect, she’s on: depakin (sodium valproate), nimodipine, potassium, and Serrapeptase (which had helped a lot with the swelling).
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That’s wonderful news! I like to start my mornings off with good news, thank you very much for sharing!
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