[Pediatric head injuries: a retrospective analysis of 280 patients.].
BACKGROUND
To assess etiological factors, clinical features, radiological findings and recovery rates in pediatric head injuries.


METHODS
Patients (n =280) with head injuries (age range: 0 - 16 years) hospitalized in Trakya University Department of Neurosurgery between January 1995 and 2004 were analyzed statistically.


RESULTS
According to Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) the patients had minor (GCS: 13- 15 ; 70.1% ), moderate (GCS: 9- 12; 17,1% ), or severe (GCS: 3 to 8; 6,8% ). head injuries The most common etiological factor was fall from a height (34,3%); and the most frequently associated injury was extra-spinal skeletal injury (12,9%). Fifty-one patients (18,2%) underwent neurosurgical operation. 87.5% of them recovered completely, while 12,5% showed partial recovery or died, as graded by Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS). There was a moderately strong correlation between initial GCS and GOS (r=0,53, p=0,01).


CONCLUSIONS
Nearly half of the pediatric head injuries were caused by falls with good prognoses. In the school age, motor vehicle accident (MVA) was the most frequent trauma type. MVA was the most serious type of trauma as demonstrated by its low GCS and GOS scores. Polytraumas, subdural hematomas, cerebral contusions, subarachnoid or intracerebral hemorrhages, cerebral edemas, diffuse axonal injuries, and any cranial lesion which required surgery were found to be related with poor prognosis.
Şimşek
Osman
O
Trakya University Faculty of Medicine, Departments of Neurosurgery Edirne, Turkey. gosimsek@yahoo.com.
Hiçdönmez
Tufan
T
Hamamcıoğlu
M Kemal
MK
Kılınçer
Cumhur
C
Parsak
Turgay
T
Tiryaki
Mehmet
M
Kurt
Imran
I
Çobanoğlu
Sebahattin
S
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D006259:Craniocerebral Trauma / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D015600:Glasgow Coma Scale; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014421:Turkey / Q000453:epidemiology