title: [Pediatric head injuries, retrospective analysis of 851 patients: an epidemiological study].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The aim of this study was to contribute to the epidemiological database of our country about pediatric head injuries.
  
  
  METHODS
  We retrospectively analyzed 851 patients younger than 14 years old with head injury, treated in the Neurosurgery Department of Samsun Mehmet Aydın Education and Research Hospital between January 2003 and June 2008.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Five hundred and fifty (65%) patients were male and 301 (35%) were female. Falls (70%) were the most common cause of head injury. According to Glasgow Coma Score (GCS), 74% of patients had mild (13-15), 22% moderate (9-12) and 4% severe (3-8) head injury. Eighty-seven (10.5%) patients were operated. The commonest operations were performed for depressed fractures and epidural hematomas. The mortality rate was 3.8% (33). Common causes of mortality were traffic accidents and falls from heights.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Other reported studies and this study show that the majority of pediatric head injuries occur as a result of preventable causes. It is important to have local epidemiological studies and data about head injuries in order to prevent these traumas before their occurrence.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Ordu University Faculty of Medicine, Ordu, Turkey. serdarisik1@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Hasan Serdar
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Işık
authors.forename: Ahmet
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gökyar
authors.forename: Omer
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Yıldız
authors.forename: Uğur
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Bostancı
authors.forename: Cengiz
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ozdemir
mesh_terms: D000058:Accidental Falls / Q000401:mortality / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000401:mortality / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000293:Adolescent; D017677:Age Distribution; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D006259:Craniocerebral Trauma / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000401:mortality / Q000601:surgery; D005260:Female; D015600:Glasgow Coma Scale; D006407:Hematoma, Epidural, Cranial / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D017678:Sex Distribution; D020204:Skull Fracture, Depressed / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000601:surgery; D014421:Turkey / Q000453:epidemiology