Head injuries in children: a prospective five year follow-up.

A five year follow-up study was conducted with two groups of head-injuried children. 131 younger than 9 years old at time of injury and 100 older than 9 years. The four aspects studied were neuropsychological function, neurological status, EEG status, and school progress. There was an extended recovery process over time, as well as evidence of a differential rate of recovery for the four aspects measured.     

Head injuries in children under 36 months of age

Head injuries in children under the age of 3 years have not been extensively studied, due in part to the lack of an objective tool for neurological assessment. We have developed a Children's Coma Scale (CCS) by modifying the verbal response subscore of the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) to overcome this limitation. When applied prospectively to children under 3 years of age, we found the CCS to be useful in predicting outcome. During the 5-year study period from 1981 to 1985, there were 738 patients with head injuries (0–16 years) admitted to the Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago, including 318 (43.1%) less than 3 years of age. Initial data demonstrated the following observations. The most common mechanism of injury was a fall (75.5%). Although a brief loss of consciousness (LOC) was reported in three-fourths of the patients, prolonged LOC of more than 6 h was uncommon (16/318, 5.0%). The classically described lucid interval was seen in only 7 children (2.2%) and was not a reliable indicator of epidural hematoma. Post-traumatic seizures developed more commonly in children under 2 years of age (15.7%) than in older children (11.6% under 3 years of age, 9.6%, entire group), (P<0.001). Oculovestibular reflex and bilateral fixed dilated pupils had the most reliable correlation with outcome. Other brain-stem reflexes were less useful. Intracranial pressure greater than 40 torr in children with CCS scores of 3, 4 or 5 was inevitably fatal; however, 10 of 16 children with ICP less than 40 torr showed a good outcome.Presented at the 15th Annual Meeting, Section of Pediatric Neurosurgeons of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, Pittsburgh, December 1986     

Head injuries in children under 36 months of age. Demography and outcome

Head injuries in children under the age of 3 years have not been extensively studied, due in part to the lack of an objective tool for neurological assessment. We have developed a Children's Coma Scale (CCS) by modifying the verbal response subscore of the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) to overcome this limitation. When applied prospectively to children under 3 years of age, we found the CCS to be useful in predicting outcome. During the 5-year study period from 1981 to 1985, there were 738 patients with head injuries (0-16 years) admitted to the Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago, including 318 (43.1%) less than 3 years of age. Initial data demonstrated the following observations. The most common mechanism of injury was a fall (75.5%). Although a brief loss of consciousness (LOC) was reported in three-fourths of the patients, prolonged LOC of more than 6 h was uncommon (16/318, 5.0%). The classically described "lucid interval" was seen in only 7 children (2.2%) and was not a reliable indicator of epidural hematoma. Post-traumatic seizures developed more commonly in children under 2 years of age (15.7%) than in older children (11.6% under 3 years of age, 9.6%, entire group), (P less than 0.001). Oculovestibular reflex and bilateral fixed dilated pupils had the most reliable correlation with outcome. Other brain-stem reflexes were less useful.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

汶川地震后颅脑损伤儿童36例临床分析

目的 探讨汶川大地震后儿童颅脑损伤的临床特点.方法 收集汶川大地震后四川大学华西医院神经外科住院的36例地震致颅脑损伤儿童的临床资料(男21例,女15例;年龄3月～14岁.平均年龄8.1岁;轻型30例,中型4例,重型2例;建筑物倒塌砸伤30例,切割伤3例,逃生跌伤3例),对其伤情分类、致伤原因、治疗方法 及预后等进行回顾性分析.结果 36例颅脑损伤儿童中出院(或转院)时GOS评分为恢复良好33例,中残3例.结论 汶川大地震后建筑物倒塌砸伤为主要致伤原因,颅脑损伤儿童以轻型居多,要注意颅骨骨折的治疗,多数可恢复良好.     

Head injuries in children: a chronicle of a quarter of a century

Children aged 0–15 years hospitalized in Geneva for head trauma during the last quarter of a century are reviewed. More than half of the severely injured children were not from Geneva area. New methods of management have been introduced progressively. The cases are divided in four successive time periods and classified according to their pathology. A continuous improvement in mortality is obvious, decreasing from 29.4% to 2.2%, but climbing again to 15.2% in the last period, probably due to more severe pathologies. For the Geneva area the mortality decreased progressively from 10.4/100 000 to 3.5/100 000 annually, due to better organization and management, but also to a drop in the incidence of severe cases from 35.5–13.5/100 000 per year. A decrease in the number of traffic accidents is responsible for this. However, the number of handicapped children has not changed.     

Head injuries from bicycle accidents

This study comprises a total of 159 victims from bicycle accidents treated as inpatients at the Department of Neurosurgery, University of Bonn between January 1987 and June 1995. It was our aim to define the severity and features of bicycle-related head injuries in a defined population. Our results show that 33% of admitted bicycle victims sustained severe head injuries (Glasgow Coma Score 3–8). Neurosurgical operations were performed in 49% of patients and were mainly related to the evacuation of an extracerebral hematoma. Of the 159 bicycle victims, 112 (70%) made a good recovery, 11 (7%) remained moderately and 4 (3%) severely disabled, and 26 (16%) had died at follow-up (mean 2 years). In conclusion, our data indicate that bicycle-related trauma accounts for a substantial proportion of all head injuries requiring neurosurgical treatment. Active (e.g. traffic regulations, education of riders) and passive measures (e.g. safety helmets) can be expected to reduce both incidence and severity of head injuries among bicyclists.     

Head injuries in infants and young children: the value of the Paediatric Coma Scale

The normal verbal and motor responses embodied in the standard Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) are not achievable during the first few years of life. The recent literature contains numerous reports of attempts to devise scales of responses quantitating the conscious level in infants and young children, both for research purposes and as clinical guides; some of these scales incorporate items, e.g. brainstem reflexes, that are not included in the GCS. We have reported on a simple paediatric version of the GCS, which uses the standard scale with minor modifications in the verbal component, and sets realistic age-related normal responses. This has been tested prospectively in a series of 60 head-injured infants and children (age range 0–72 months). Of 6 cases recorded as comatose 6 h after injury, 4 have confirmed or suspected residual disabilities. Of 35 cases considered to be fully conscious at 6 h, 31 have made good recoveries and only 1 has suspected residual disabilities. The study suggests that the scale accords with the realities of neurological immaturity, and confirms that it can be used in routine paediatric practice. For comparative therapeutic trials, the conscious level in infants has limited value as an index of brain injury, and should be complemented by other indices, such as brainstem reflexes.     

Head injuries in Vietnamese refugees in Hong Kong

The Vietnamese refugee camps in Hong Kong represent a unique social situation, where as many as 55 000 people have at one time lived. The Neurosurgical Division of the Prince of Wales Hospital receives all head injured patients from two of the largest camps for management. A retrospective analysis was undertaken of all Vietnamese patients hospitalised with head injuries over a four year period from January 1990 to December 1993. Our results showed that there was a higher incidence of head injuries as compared to epidemiological studies in the USA (Marshall, 1981) and Britain (Jennett, 1981), with the highest risk group being children aged 12 years and below. The majority of head injuries were minor, with the most common cause being a fall from bed. With these findings, appropriate preventive measures were advised and steps were taken to reduce the incidence of head injuries amongst the Vietnamese children.     

Cerebral blood flow and metabolism in children with severe head injuries. Part 2: Cerebrovascular resistance and its determinants.

It has been proposed that in children with severe head injuries the cerebral circulation does not respond appropriately to normal physiological control mechanisms, making children more susceptible than adults to low cerebrovascular resistance, increased cerebral blood flow (cerebral hyperaemia), and raised intracranial pressure. To investigate this issue, 122 serial measurements of cerebrovascular resistance in 17 children with severe head injuries have been performed and related to cerebral perfusion pressure, arterial CO2 (PaCO2), arterial oxygen content (AO2), and the cerebral metabolic rate of oxygen (CMRO2). Cerebrovascular resistance values (mean (SD) 1.54 (0.61) mm Hg.ml-1.100 g.min) were normal or raised in most cases; 71 values (58%) were within the normal range, 39 (32%) above the upper limit, and only 12 (10%) below the lower limit. There was a significant correlation between cerebral perfusion pressure and cerebrovascular resistance (r = 0.32, p = 0.0003), suggesting preservation of pressure autoregulation. This correlation was absent in four of the five children who died or survived with severe handicap. Analysis by multilevel modelling indicated that, as in normal subjects, CMRO2, CPP, AO2, PaCO2, and cerebrovenous pH were important independent determinants of cerebrovascular resistance. The results indicate that normal cerebrovascular reactivity is often preserved in children with severe head injuries but may be impaired in the most severely injured patients.     

Head injuries in skiers and snowboarders in British Columbia

BACKGROUND: At the Vancouver General Hospital Neurosurgical Service there have been a significant number of seriously brain injured snowboarders, seemingly out of proportion to the number of skiers. The purpose of this study was to determine whether snowboarders suffered more serious head injuries than skiers in the Vancouver catchment area. METHODS: The British Columbia Trauma Registry was searched for patients incurring head injuries while skiing or snowboarding on British Columbia mountains during the period from January 1992 to December 1997. Patients were included if they were admitted to hospital and underwent neurosurgical consultation. RESULTS: A total of 40 skiers and 14 snowboarders met the above criteria. Of the skiers, 15% sustained a severe head injury by Glasgow Coma Score, another 30% sustaining moderate head injuries, while 29% of snowboarders had a severe injury and 36% a moderate injury. A concussion was present in 60% of the skiers and 21% of the snowboarders. Snowboarders suffered an intracranial hemorrhage in 71% of the cases compared to 28% of the skiers. A craniotomy was performed acutely in 10% of skiers and in 29% of snowboarders. Three deaths occurred as a direct result of head injury, one while snowboarding. All but one of the surviving skiers were able to return home, whereas four of 13 surviving snowboarders required additional inpatient rehabilitation or transfer to another acute hospital for ongoing care. CONCLUSIONS: Snowboarders suffer more significant head injuries compared to skiers in this series and are much more likely than skiers to require an intracranial procedure. In our opinion, this indicates that additional safety measures, in particular the use of mandatory helmets, should be considered by ski areas and their patrons.     

Craniocerebral gunshot injuries in children

INTRODUCTION: Despite the worldwide increase in the incidence of gunshot injuries, there are few large published series on craniocerebral gunshot injuries in children. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The records of 30 consecutive children who were treated for craniocerebral gunshot injuries at the Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital from 1989 to 2002 were reviewed retrospectively. The circumstances of the injury, clinical status, CT findings, complications, and outcome were assessed. RESULTS: The median age was 7 years. Seventy-seven percent of the victims were boys. The majority of the children were injured in the crossfire of civilian violence. The initial management consisted of debridement under local anesthesia in 16 children and neurosurgical procedures under general anesthesia were performed in 14. Sixteen children sustained transhemispheric injuries, 5 bihemispheric injuries, 5 tangential injuries, and 4 transventricular injuries. All 3 children with a GCS <4 died within 72 h of admission. Three of the 7 children with GCS 4-7 died but there were no deaths in those children whose GCS was >7 post-resuscitation. Motor deficits, cranial nerve palsies, and visual field defects were very common. Early post-traumatic seizures were the commonest complication (18%). CONCLUSION: Children with higher post-resuscitation GCSs fared better than adults in terms of mortality but not necessarily morbidity. As in the case with adults, the GCS after resuscitation is a very good prognostic indicator of mortality.     

Assessment of war and accidental nerve injuries in children.

Eleven children with war-related peripheral nerve injury and 16 children with accident-related nerve injury between the ages of 3 and 15 years were assessed clinically and electromyoneurographically for 1-15 months. Lesions of 32 peripheral nerves were registered in children with war injuries. Children with accidentally acquired injuries had lesions of 27 peripheral nerves. A complete loss of voluntary motor unit potentials and signs of total axonal damage were recorded in the upper arms of seven of 11 children with war injuries and in five of 16 children with accidental injuries. There was a diminished number of motor unit potentials and a reduction in compound muscle action potential amplitudes, indicating partial nerve lesions, in 11 of 16 children with accidental injuries (mostly after humeral fracture) and in three of 11 children with brachial plexus war injuries. Reinnervation signs first occurred after 5-9 months (mean = 6.2 months) in war-injured children receiving conservative treatment and after 2-7 months (mean = 3.4 months) in children with accidentally acquired injuries. War-related peripheral nerve injuries in children are more frequently associated with complete denervation followed by slower or delayed nerve regeneration. In children with accidentally acquired nerve injuries the course is significantly better.     

Head and facial injuries due to cluster munitions

Cluster munitions are weapons that scatter smaller sub-munitions intended to kill or mutilate on impact. They have been used by the Israeli army in the south of Lebanon and are now scattered over wide rural areas affecting its inhabitants. Because of their easily “pickable” nature, sub-munitions can inflict injuries to the head and face regions. In this study, we aimed to explore the head and face injuries along with their clinical features in a group of Lebanese patients who suffered from such injuries due to a sub-munition’s detonation. The study included all the cases reported between 14 August 2006 and 15 February 2013, with head and face injuries related to cluster bombs. Injuries were classified into brain, eye, otologic and auditory impairments, oral and maxillofacial, and skin and soft-tissue injuries. Psychological effects of these patients were also examined as for post-traumatic stress disorder, major depressive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder and acute stress syndrome. During the study period, there were 417 casualties as a result of cluster munitions’ blasts. Out of the total number of victims, 29 (7 %) were injured in the head and the face region. The convention on cluster munitions of 2008 should be adhered to, as these inhumane weapons indiscriminately and disproportionately harm innocent civilians, thereby violating the well-established international principles governing conflict and war today.