Coup-Contrecoup brain injury involves damage at the site of impact and on the opposite side.

• A. Coup-Contrecoup
• B. Epidural Hematoma
• C. Aura
• D. Intracranial Pressure

Answer: (A)

The key idea is that rapid head movement causes injury at the point of impact and on the opposite side due to brain inertia. When the head is suddenly struck or decelerated, the brain lags and slams into the skull at the site of contact, causing damage there (coup). It then rebounds and hits the skull on the opposite side, causing a second injury (contrecoup). This dual-area damage is what defines the coup-contrecoup pattern.

This concept is distinct from an epidural hematoma, which is a bleed between the skull and dura often from tearing a meningeal artery and tends to be a single site of pathology rather than a paired injury. Aura refers to a premonitory sensory phenomenon seen with migraines or seizures, not trauma patterns. Intracranial pressure is a general rise inside the skull that can accompany various injuries but does not specify the dual-site injury mechanism described here.