A Rare Cause of Subgaleal Hematoma in a 6-year-old Child: Hair Braiding

Case Presentation

A 6-year-old female patient presented to the pediatric emergency clinic with her mother for “gradually worsening scalp swelling” over the last week. The swelling was first noticed by the mom about 5 days ago while doing her hair braids but grew and spread along the scalp the next several days. Initially, the patient was admitted to an outside hospital emergency department and was diagnosed with cellulitis of unknown origin and prescribed antifungal and antibiotic agents. The patient was discharged after a short follow-up at the emergency department. The mother was able to provide only antibiotic treatment without any improvement. The patient was re-admitted to the emergency department with persistent scalp swelling that was not responsive to the treatment. The patient had no other complaints including fever, neck stiffness, nausea, vomiting, and visual disturbances. The patient and mother denied any recent history of head trauma, headache, ear pain, or sinus infection. The patient was born full-term without complications. The patientʼs past medical history was unremarkable apart from attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder. The patient had no history of easy bruising, or mucosal bleeding. There was no known familial history of coagulopathy or bleeding disorder.

Publication History

Received: 31 May 2024

Accepted after revision: 29 July 2024

Article published online:
06 September 2024