[Crushing head injuries: report of six cases].
We report 6 cases of crushing head injuries produced by static loading forces, which are defined as those that occur over a longer period of time (> 200 ms) and are applied over a large area. Patients ranged in age from 4 to 53 years. There were five male and one female. The causes of injuries in 5 cases were industrial accidents. In one case, the patient's head was run over by a motor vehicle in a parking lot. Glasgow Coma Scale scores ranged from 3 to 12. Three patients had cerebrospinal fluid otorrhea and rhinorrhea. Computed tomograms showed multiple calvarial and basilar cranial fractures, as well as intracranial hematomas, pneumocephalus and diffuse cerebral swelling. In 4 cases, fatal compressive brain damage occurred. Compression of the skull beyond a certain degree causes damages to the brain itself and the great vessels through cerebral compression. We consider that this damage may contribute to mortality in such injuries.
Department of Neurosurgery, Jikei University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
S
S
Sawauchi
K
K
Yuhki
T
T
Abe
D000062:Accidents, Occupational; D000063:Accidents, Traffic; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D019245:Compressive Strength; D006259:Craniocerebral Trauma / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D017809:Fatal Outcome; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed