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.     

Caring for patients with cranial trauma: a new approach demonstrated in a case study

Until recently, the effects of a minor head injury have been minimalized by health care workers. Few resources have been available to individuals who experienced a mild traumatic brain injury who were discharged from hospital emergency services. Recognizing the needs of these individuals and their families, health care workers in Nova Scotia, including nurses, have developed a specific program of rehabilitation for patients who have suffered mild brain injuries.     

Post-traumatic epilepsy in children requiring inpatient rehabilitation following head injury

OBJECTIVE: To study the prevalence of, and identify possible risk factors for, the development of post-traumatic epilepsy in a cohort of children with severe head injury treated in an inpatient rehabilitation unit. METHODS: The hospital and community medical case notes of all children admitted prospectively to the unit and the records of the clinical EEG department over a seven year period were reviewed to identify those children who had developed late epilepsy after head injuries. RESULTS: 102 children received inpatient rehabilitation between 1 June 1991 and 28 February 1998. Follow up of these patients ranged from 18 months to over eight years. Nine patients (9%) developed post-traumatic epilepsy between eight months and over five years after the head injury. Three of the nine patients had experienced early tonic-clonic seizures in the first week after the injury. Other risk factors examined included the age of the patient, the cause of the head injury, initial Glasgow coma scale score, neuroimaging findings, and duration of ventilatory support. Only the presence of early seizures (p = 0.002) and possibly the Glasgow coma scale score (p = 0.043) were found to be specific risk factors for late late epilepsy. CONCLUSIONS: Post-traumatic epilepsy appears to be uncommon, even in children with severe head injuries. Early seizures may indicate increased risk of developing late post-traumatic epilepsy in this study population.     

The significance of skull fracture in mild head trauma differs between children and adults

Objective The objective was to determine whether the age of patients with mild head injury and skull fracture influences the level of risk for acute intracranial injuries.Method A study was conducted of 156 patients with skull fracture, 60 children (aged <14 years) and 96 adults, detected among 5,097 consecutive patients with mild head injury (Glasgow Coma Scale [GCS] score of 15–14 points) arriving at the Emergency Department of a Level I University Hospital Trauma Center during 1998. Acute intracranial injuries were defined as traumatic brain injuries identified by cranial computed tomography scan, excluding pneumocephalus.Results Compared with the children, this risk of intracranial injury was 13 times greater in the adults aged 14–54 years and 16 times greater in the over-54-year-olds. Besides age over 14 years (p<0.0001), compound skull fracture (p<0.001), and a GCS score of 14 (p<0.001) were factors significantly associated with intracranial injury in the logistic regression analysis.Conclusions Skull fracture in mild head injury implies a greater risk of intracranial injury in adults than in children.     

Posttraumatic visual agnosia and epilepsy as a consequence of gunshot injury to the head. Case report

Half million people in the world, each year have a gunshot injury to the head and eighty thousand of them are hospitalized. Gunshot injuries to the head have became in Poland second most frequent cause of death from head trauma, and in some countries during peace became the most frequent cause of death among patient with head injury. Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) is a useful prognostic factor for patients with gunshot injury to the head. Injury to the eloquent regions of the brain, commotion and contusion of the brain, intracranial hematomas, subarachnoid hemorrhage, cerebro-vascular spasm, injuries to the major vessels, liquorrhea, infections, coagulopathies and epilepsy are the most important and influential factors in the clinical status of the patient with gunshot injury to the head. The operation is the preferred treatment to all patient, no matter of their clinical status at the moment of the admission. The report presents the history of treatment of a patient with gunshot injury to the head. During the treatment extremely infrequently occurring posttraumatic visual agnosia and posttraumatic epilepsy were observed. Twenty-two months after operation the patient is independent and professionally active.     

Functional outcome following spinal cord injury. A comparison of specialized spinal cord injury center vs general hospital short-term care

The functional outcomes of 185 patients with spinal cord injuries undergoing rehabilitation who were initially treated in a specialized short-term care unit (center patients) were compared with those of 153 patients initially treated in general hospitals (noncenter patients). After stabilization, all patients were admitted to the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (Ill) and received the same rehabilitation program. The groups were comparable in terms of demographic, injury, and medical characteristics at the time of rehabilitation center admission, but the duration from injury to rehabilitation was more than twice as long for noncenter patients. While center patients were discharged from the rehabilitation center at equivalent functional skill levels, their daily rate of functional gains during the rehabilitation center stay was significantly greater than that of noncenter patients although the length of stay at the rehabilitation center was comparable for the two groups. These results support the practice of specialized short-term spinal cord injury care as a means of enhancing rehabilitation outcome.     

Facial-cerebral gunshot wounds

The current frequency increase of gunshot wounds to the head is directly proportional to the access to firearms and to amount of firearm-related crimes. This risk is increasing especially in population groups that have not been threatened before. Hence the aim of this study was to analyse and resume our experiences in the management of faciocerebral gunshots. We retrospectively reviewed a series of 9 consecutive patients who were treated in the Department of Neurosurgery, Military Clinical Hospital in Bydgoszcz with the diagnosis of gunshot wound to the head from 1994 to 1999. All the cases were young males (mean, 26 yr). There were six suicidal attempts and three accidents at firearm service. KbkAK, that is a standard machine gun in the Polish Army, was most frequently related to gunshots in the analysed series. All the patients were assessed according to Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) at arrival to hospital. Average of admission GCS Score was 6.1. The patients were also assessed after treatment using Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS). One patient was dead (GOS Score 1), and 7 (78%) improved to good, independent functional status (GOS Score 4 or 5). The authors emphasize the necessity of multispecialistic initial operative management of faciocerebral gunshots wounds and aggressive pre- and postoperative care (tracheostomy, gastrostomy, treatment of encephalitis), which makes it possible to obtain good and very good outcomes. Furthermore, we stress the role of minimal primary debridement for the sake of frequent secondary reconstructive operations.     

汶川特大地震颅脑创伤临床救治分析

目的 总结汶川特大地震中颅脑外伤的临床类型及特点、救治经验.方法 对5.12汶川特大地震中四川大学华西医院神经外科收治的182例伤员资料、流行病学、致伤原因、分类、伤情、救助时间、合并症、并发症、治疗和预后等进行分析.结果 男102例,女80例,建筑物砸伤是最主要的致伤原因,其次为挤压伤;按GCS评分:轻型129例,占70.9%;中型32例,占17.6%.,重型21例,占11.5%.伤口开放占68.7%;合并叫肢及脊柱骨折占16.5%,伤口感染18例占7.4%,急性肾功衰竭3例(1.2%).手术治疗者40例.出院或转科时GOS评估:5分121例(66.5%),4分38例(20.8%),3分或以下23例(9.7%),死亡5例,死亡率3.3%.结论 重伤伤员院前抢救率低,院内以轻、中型颅脑创伤为主,合并症多,伤口感染率高;多学科联合早期、有序规范救治有重要意义.     

Stroke rehabilitation in Switzerland versus the United States: a preliminary comparison

This article compares the structure and process of rehabilitation for stroke patients at 2 internationally recognized rehabilitation hospitals, Klinik Valens ("Valens") in Switzerland and the William Donald Schaeffer Rehabilitation Hospital at Kernan ("Kernan") in the United States. Although the patient mix, structure, and process of rehabilitation were similar in many regards, there were some important differences. Most notably, on average, patients at the U.S. hospital were discharged from rehabilitation at approximately the same day poststroke that rehabilitation began in Switzerland. Patients remained in an inpatient setting an average of 40 days longer in Switzerland (for the combination of acute care and rehabilitation) and had significantly higher levels of functioning at discharge when compared to their U.S. counterparts. The authors' findings suggest that Europe may offer opportunities for rehabilitation research that would be difficult to duplicate in the United States and highlight policy-relevant questions for future studies aimed at developing efficient managed care systems for stroke survivors.     

Third, fourth, and sixth cranial nerve palsies following closed head injury.

BACKGROUND: The relationship between the circumstances and severity of closed head injury (CHI) and the clinical and imaging features of cranial nerve 3, 4, and 6 palsies has not been rigorously addressed in a large study. METHODS: Retrospective chart review of 210 consecutive patients with CHI examined at a single tertiary care center from 1987 to 2002. Patients were located by searching the ophthalmology inpatient consultation and neuro-ophthalmology outpatient databases and hospital emergency room billing codes for a diagnosis of traumatic 3, 4, or 6 cranial nerve palsy (Cranial Nerve Injury Group) and a diagnosis of CHI without traumatic 3, 4, or 6 nerve palsy (Control Group). The Cranial Nerve Injury Group was then subdivided into two groups: those with injuries to an individual cranial nerve and those with multiple (including bilateral) cranial nerve injuries. Comparisons between groups were based on age, gender, type of accident, Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS), documented loss of consciousness (LOC), type of ocular injury, presence of systemic injury, need for rehabilitation, physical therapy and cognitive scores, and imaging features. RESULTS: The Cranial Nerve Injury Group had a significantly higher severity of head injury, more CT abnormalities, and worse short-term neurologic outcomes as compared with the Control Group. These trends were also found when each cranial nerve injury subgroup was compared with the Control Group. Those with cranial nerve 3 palsy had the most severe head injury; those with cranial nerve 4 palsy had an intermediate level of head injury; and those with cranial nerve 6 palsy had the lowest level of head injury. There were no consistent associations between the location of the imaging abnormalities and which cranial nerve was damaged. CONCLUSIONS: CHI with palsy of an ocular motor nerve was more severe than CHI without ocular motor nerve palsy, as measured by the GCS, intracranial and skull imaging abnormalities, and a greater frequency of inpatient rehabilitation. Palsy of cranial nerve 3 was associated with relatively more severe CHI than was palsy of cranial nerves 4 or 6. The location of the imaging abnormalities did not correlate with a particular cranial nerve injury.     

Early recovery of walking in children and youths after traumatic brain injury

A consecutive series of 106 children and adolescents (mean age 10 years, 6 months; SD 4 years, 8 months) with recent traumatic brain injury admitted to a regional hospital-based rehabilitation program was assessed to determine the rate of walking recovery, and characteristics that distinguish between independent walkers, non-walkers, and device-assisted walkers at hospital discharge. Data were collected through a retrospective medical record review of patients admitted between 1994 and 2001. Mean hospital stays were 66.7 days (SD 88.5, range 7 to 140 days). All children (72 male, 34 female) had recent injuries (from 1 to 8 weeks after onset of traumatic brain injury) and were independent walkers before injury. Sixty-four children (60.4%) were discharged as independent walkers, 13 (12.3%) walked with the assistance of a device, and 29 (27.3%) were non-walkers. Non-walkers had a higher proportion of prolonged loss of consciousness, lower-extremity injury, impaired responsiveness, and lower-extremity spasticity than independent walkers. In addition, non-walkers had poorer discharge mobility and social function scores, longer average hospital stays, and a greater proportion of non-community discharges. Device-only walkers were older, more likely to be male, and had a higher proportion of lower-extremity injuries than independent walkers. Results highlight several demographic, clinical, and outcome variables that distinguish independent walkers from device-assisted walkers and non-walkers. These variables might help to determine the prognosis for ambulation, resource needs, and discharge plans for children and adolescents with traumatic brain injury after episodes of inpatient rehabilitation.     

Outcome of "unknown" head injury patients at a tertiary care neurosurgical centre

CONTEXT: A large number of patients are admitted to hospitals in large cities without any identification. These "unknown" patients represent a unique problem in developing countries. There is no systematic study in world literature on this subgroup of patients. AIMS: To elucidate the natural history and outcome of traumatic brain injury patients admitted in the department of neurosurgery as "unknowns". SETTINGS AND DESIGN: Retrospective analysis of all traumatic brain injury patients admitted to the department of neurosurgery as "unknown", between January 2002 and March 2005. RESULTS: Three hundred and twenty five patients were admitted as unknowns over a 3 year and 3 months period. Most of the patients were young males and became known during their hospital stay. Overall, 33 patients stayed for longer than one month, with 4 of them staying for longer than 6 months. Mortality in mild, moderate and severe head injury group was 1%, 6% and 46% respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Unknown patients represent a unique subgroup in metropolitan cities like Delhi. Managing them raises several medico-legal issues. Many of them occupy hospital beds for longer duration than required. There is an acute shortage of rehabilitation homes in Delhi for long term care and rehabilitation of such patients.     

颅脑损伤后氨基末端脑利钠肽前体的应用价值研究

目的探讨血浆氨基末端脑利钠肽前体(NT-pro-BNP)在评估颅脑创伤(TBI)严重程度及颅内压(ICP)增高中的应用价值。方法选择2009年1月到2009年12月收入我院神经外科的63例颅脑创伤患者作为研究对象。收集的资料包括患者的性别、年龄、入院时GCS评分、受伤机制、颅内压数值、总住院天数、重症监护病房(ICU)住院天数。按照患者入院时最初的GCS评分将其分为轻度颅脑创伤组(GCS 13-15,n=14),中度颅脑创伤组(GCS 9-12,n=24),重度颅脑创伤组(GCS 3-8,n=25)三组。应用电化学发光免疫分析技术测定血浆NT-pro-BNP浓度。结果重度颅脑创伤组血浆NT-pro-BNP水平显著高于轻度颅脑创伤组及中度颅脑创伤组(F=12.590,P<0.01)。同ICP控制组(n=15)249.3 pg/ml±103.8 pg/ml及未行ICP监测组(n=40)221.9 pg/ml±142.7 pg/ml相比,ICP增高组(n=5)NT-pro-BNP血浆浓度520.2 pg/ml±153.5 pg/ml可出现显著增高(P<0.01)。血浆NT-pro-BNP水平与GCS评分及ICU住院天数存在相关性。结论颅脑创伤早期血浆NT-pro-BNP水平越高,其伤后颅内压控制难度越大。血浆NT-pro-BNP水平可作为判断颅脑创伤严重程度及颅内压增高程度的一个潜在评估指标,有助于及早预判颅内压增高并及时地对其进行干预。     

Psychiatric co-morbidities and patients with head and spinal cord trauma. Effects on acute hospital care

Three hundred twenty-one patients with traumatic head and spinal cord injuries were studied. Forty-two of these patients (13.1%) received psychiatric consultation services. Two types of consultation patients were identified--one receiving psychiatric consultation services in the acute-care hospital and one receiving psychiatric services in the post-acute care, long-term rehabilitation center. In order to assess the impact of psychiatric co-morbidities on hospital length of stay and charges, 40 consultation patients (23 acute and 17 rehabilitation) were matched to 87 control patients who received no psychiatric services. Matching was done on severity of injury, age, and sex. Psychiatric consultation cases had significantly longer stays than did matched controls. There were no differences on total charges.     

Social functioning of patients with schizophrenia in high-income welfare societies

OBJECTIVE: The study assessed the level of reintegration into the community of patients with schizophrenia in Oslo, Norway, a country with a well-developed social welfare system and low unemployment rates. METHODS: Eighty-one patients with a DSM-III-R diagnosis of schizophrenia treated in 1980 and in 1983 in a short-term ward of a psychiatric hospital were followed up after seven years. Seventy-four of 76 patients alive at follow-up agreed to participate. Social functioning was measured by the Strauss-Carpenter Level of Functioning Scale and the Social Adjustment Scale. RESULTS: At follow-up 78 percent of patients lived independently, 47 percent were socially isolated, and 94 percent were unemployed. Thirty-four percent had lost employment in the follow-up period. A poor outcome in terms of social functioning and community reintegration was associated with loss of employment. A good outcome was predicted by short periods of inpatient hospitalization, high levels of education, being married, male gender, and not having a late onset of psychosis. CONCLUSIONS: The level of homelessness among these patients with schizophrenia was encouragingly low, which may have been expected in a high-income welfare society. However, insufficient efforts were aimed at social and instrumental rehabilitation, and the level of unemployment was alarmingly high.     

Management of a patient with traumatic tetraplegia from Central Australia: case report

During the 6-year period up to 1 January 1988, 10 patients were admitted to our unit from Central Australia with spinal cord injuries resulting from motor vehicle accidents. Of these half had received their injury whilst resting unrestrained in the rear of a moving vehicle. Three of these were recumbent. The case is presented of a 26-year-old male who was injured whilst resting in the rear of a moving vehicle that left the roadway and rolled in remote central Australia. The injuries sustained were a closed head injury, fractures of the left lateral masses of C5, C6 and C7, a burst fracture of C7 with an asymmetrical complete tetraplegia: C5 on the left, C6 on the right. Initial orthopaedic management was skeletal traction. An inpatient rehabilitation programme has been completed.     

Impact of elevated ICP on outcome after paediatric traumatic brain injury requiring intensive care

Introduction

Traumatic brain injury is an important cause of morbidity and mortality in children and adolescents. Moderate to severe brain injuries account for approximately 20?% of all brain injuries, and nearly 50?% of the patients experience neuropsychological sequelae due to the injury. The purposes of this study are, firstly, to describe intensive care management of children with a severe brain injury and, secondly, to study the impact of elevated intracranial pressure on outcome.

Methods

A retrospective review of medical records was done.

Results

Sixty children were admitted for intensive care during the study period. Seventy-three percent of all children received neurosurgical interventions, 26 children received an intracranial pressure-monitoring device and 14 of those had an elevated intracranial pressure (ICP) >20?mmHg requiring ICP-targeted therapies. Eighty-eight percent of all children reported cognitive impairment at follow-up. No significant correlation was found between the King's Outcome Scale for Childhood Head Injury outcome groups and whether or not the children have had a neurosurgical intervention or were treated with ICP-targeted medical therapies.

Conclusion

Children receiving rehabilitation after a brain injury during childhood make a moderate to good recovery. No significant correlation was found between outcome and whether or not the child had been treated for elevated intracranial pressure.     

Plasma glucose level in Nigerian Africans with head injury

Trauma is often associated with increased plasma glucose concentrations. This prospective study was designed to determine random plasma glucose concentrations in patients with head injury in our center and to determine if this is related to injury severity and outcome. Patients with head injury in whom the plasma glucose concentration could be determined at our accident and emergency unit during the study period were included. We obtained information on demographic data, diagnosis, injury severity using Glasgow Coma Scale scores, treatment with glucose-containing fluid prior to presentation in our center, plasma glucose on admission, 24 hours later and 72 hours later and outcome at discharge using the Glasgow Outcome Scale score. Hyperglycemia was defined as glucose concentrations above 11.1 mmol/L. Fifty eight patients were included in the study from October 2004 to December 2005. There were 46 males and 12 females (4:1). The mean age (± standard deviation [SD]) was 31.3 (16.4) years. Fourteen patients (24.1%) had mild head injury, 21 patients (36.2%) had moderate head injury and 23 patients (39.7%) had severe head injury. The outcome was good in 29 patients (50%), moderate disability in five patients (8.6%), severe disability in one (1.7%) and death in 10 (17.2%). Eighty percent of the patients who died had severe head injury. Most of the patients had a plasma glucose in the normal range irrespective of the severity of the head injury. Only one patient had a plasma glucose in the hyperglycemic range and that patient had a severe head injury. Fifty percent of the patients who died had a plasma glucose concentration in the normal range; none in the hyperglycemic range. This study shows that the plasma glucose is generally below hyperglycemic concentration in our patients irrespective of the severity of head injury.     

Metabolic changes of plasma norepinephrine levels in acute head injury

The plasma catecholamine levels have been accepted as an index of sympathetic nervous activity in cardiovascular and neurologic disorders. It is known that the plasma norepinephrine (NE) level is thought to reflect the degree of sympathetic nervous activity. NE is the neurotransmitter released from sympathetic nerve endings. In recent years several studies have suggested the role of biogenic amines in brain and spinal cord trauma. Head injury is almost always associated with systemic changes. Patients with head injury often exhibit cardiovascular abnormalities, hypertension, tachycardia, electrocardiographic abnormalities and acute pulmonary edema which are regarded as signs of increased sympathetic nervous system activity. The present study was undertaken to examine whether the measurement of plasma NE levels is valuable to assess and evaluate clinical status of patients with acute head injuries. Sixty patients with acute head injuries admitted to our Department were studied. Fourty seven patients were male and thirteen patients were female, ages ranged from 2 to 70 years. All patients were diagnosed by CT scan within three hours after head injury. Serial blood samples were also obtained during the first 7 days after head injury. The plasma NE was measured by high performance liquid chromatography. The Glasgow Coma Score (GCS) and the Japan Coma Scale (JCS) were recorded at admission for all patients. Clinical outcome was assessed at the time of discharge according to the Glasgow Outcome Scale. The "good" group consisted of patients with good recovery or moderate disability. The "poor" group consisted of patients with severe disability and persistent vegetative state and the "dead" group.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Management of suicide attempters: what are the routines and the costs?

The services offered to a consecutive series of 97 suicide attempters (36 men and 61 women) at a general hospital were registered by a participating observer. All but one case were subjected to psychiatric consultation for suicide risk assessment, but only 34% were evaluated by a psychiatric specialist. Fifty-seven percent were admitted to psychiatric inpatient care. The length of inpatient care varied, the average duration was 5 days for men and 14 days for women. Repeaters were admitted more often than nonrepeaters. The short-term compliance was satisfactory. The direct cost for management was evaluated based on the detailed quantification of care provided for each subject. The care at the hospital equalled 6.4% of the total budget for psychiatric inpatient care.