Diagnostic Utility of Conventional Radiography in Head Injury.
BACKGROUND
Head injury is the frequent cause of morbidity and mortality and frequently encountered in emergency department. Radiological examination of the skull is an indispensable part in the management of patients suffering from head trauma.


OBJECTIVE
To determine the accuracy of X-ray in detecting skull fractures, comparing the same with autopsy and CT evaluation.


METHODS
The medico-legal cases that died of traumatic head injury and brought for autopsy over a period of two years were included in the study. Only those cases were selected who had underwent both X-ray and CT evaluation prior to death.


RESULTS
When compared with autopsy, X-ray missed 19.1% of fractures while 11.9% fractures missed in contrast to CT scan.


CONCLUSIONS
Skull X-ray is of little benefit when a CT scan is obtained. It has no added advantage over CT scan. Whenever there is facility of CT scan is available, the patient of head injury should not underwent X-ray as it can only delay the diagnosis of an associated intracranial injury and exposes the already traumatised patient to harmful radiations.
Assistant Professor, Department of Forensic Medicine, SHKM Govt. Medical College , Nalhar, Mewat, Haryana, India .
Hitesh
H
Chawla
Resident, Department of Microbiology, Pt. B. D. Sharma PGIMS Rohtak, Haryana, India .
Ranjana
R
Malhotra
Senior Professor and Head, Department of Radio-diagnosis, Pt. B. D. Sharma PGIMS Rohtak, Haryana, India .
Rohtas Kumar
RK
Yadav
Senior Professor and Head, Unit II, Department of Surgery, Pt. B. D. Sharma PGIMS Rohtak, Haryana, India .
Mahavir S
MS
Griwan
Professor and Head, Department of Forensic Medicine, SHKM Govt. Medical College , Nalhar, Mewat, Haryana, India .
Pramod Kumar
PK
Paliwal
Associate Professor, Department of Forensic Medicine, Government Medical College , Patiala, Punjab, India .
Akash Deep
AD
Aggarwal
CT scan; Fracture; X-ray skull