Head Injury in Children

Nowadays, head injuries are becoming more frequent in children. The most common cause of head injuries in children is fall, and, in more severe injuries, traffic accident trauma. In traumatic brain injuries in infants and small children, the most common symptoms are paleness, somnolence and vomiting, the so called “pediatric contusion syndrome”. After the first year of age, light head trauma occurs after minor falls, whereas the most severe injuries are caused by car accidents, including pedestrians, or fall from the height. As the child grows, severe head trauma is more likely to occur after bicycle or car accidents. Brain injuries involving or penetrating the brain by broken bone fragments include contusions and lacerations of the brain. Unconsciousness need not always occur during contusion, as it may also appear after swelling of the brain or high intracranial pressure complications. Despite comprehensive injuries in such types of accidents, the outcome of survivors is surprisingly good. Such severe neurocranium injuries usually include heavy bleeding with hematoma (epidural bleeding, subdural bleeding, intracerebral bleeding, and traumatic subarachnoid hemorrhage). Improved prehospital care, readiness and accessibility of multidisciplinary teams, establishment of regional centers, and efforts to prevent and decrease traffic accidents contribute to mortality rate reduction.