Clinical analysis of acute craniocerebral injuries in infants and children

Abstract

Objective To explore the clinical characteristics of traumatic craniocerebral injury in children before 3 years old. Methods The clinical data of 49 children younger than 3 years with craniocerebral trauma were retrospectively analyzed. The clinical manifestations mainly included sei-zure,vomiting,bulging fontanel,decreased level of consciousness,focal neurological signs,anemia and respiratory distress. According to the severity of injury,the 49 patients were divided into 3 groups: mild injury group (19 cases),moderate injury group (22 cases) and severe injury group (8 ca-ses). Cranial CT demonstrated that: acute or subacute subdural hematoma (SDH) and subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) occurred in all patients; hematomas located in the parafalcine and tentorial regions and over the brain convexity; some patients,especially infants younger than 6 months,had focal or diffuse parenchymal hypodensities,which indicated unfavorable prognosis. Results According to Glasgow outcome scale (GOS),most patients (39 cases) had a good outcome except 6 moderately dis-abled,2 severely disabled and 2 died. Conclusions Craniocerebral anatomy and physiology and patho-physiology of craniocerebral trauma in children were distinct from those in adults. Therapeutic plan should be made on these distinct characteristics. For children's good neurologic repairing capability,pediatric patients with craniocerebral trauma usually have favorable prognosis. Key words: Child; Craniocerebral trauma; Prognosis