title: Outcome of pediatric head injury patients admitted as unknown at a level-i apex trauma centre.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Patients with head injury who are not identified at admission are a challenge to manage and in this backdrop we decided to analyze our data of such pediatric patients for their outcome.
  
  
  METHODS
  It was a retrospective study conducted at the level-I trauma center. A total of 12 consecutive pediatric (<20 years) age group patients whose identities were not known at the time of admission were included in the study.
  
  
  RESULTS
  All 12 patients were male. The road traffic accident was the most common cause of injury (8, 67%). Mean age of the patients were 16.75 ± 4.45 years. Computerized tomography (CT) scan showed cerebral contusion in four (33%) patients. Six (50%) patients needed surgery and others were treated conservatively. During the course of hospital treatment, one (8%) patient died, two (16%) had good recovery, and four (33%) were moderately disabled. Among the 12 patients identity, eight (67%) could be ascertained. Seven (58%) patients were sent home with their relatives, one (8%) was referred to a district hospital and three (25%) remained as unknown and were referred to destitute home for rehabilitation.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Unidentified patients of pediatric age group have better outcome if proper care is provided in time.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, Dhaka, Bangladesh, India.
authors.forename: Haradhan Deb
authors.initials: HD
authors.lastname: Nath
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, All India Institute of Medical Science, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Vivek
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Tandon
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, All India Institute of Medical Science, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India.
authors.forename: Ashok Kumar
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Mahapatra
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, Dhaka, Bangladesh, India.
authors.forename: Deepak Kumar
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Gupta
keywords: Computerized tomography; glasgow coma scale; head injury; intensive care unit