Demographic Characteristics of Traumatic Brain Injury in Egypt: Hospital Based Study of 2124 Patients

Abstract

Objectives: Traumatic brain injury is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in the world. The aim of this study is to highlight the demographic characteristics of traumatic brain injury in Egypt as one of the common health problem in the country. Patients and Methods: A 2124 patients admitted to our neurosurgical trauma unit with traumatic brain injury were included. Patients underwent complete neurological and radiological evaluation as per trauma protocol. Results: 1756 (82.7%) patients were male; the mean age of the patients was 26.57 ± 18.4 year. Road traffic accident was the commonest cause of trauma in 73.7% of the patients. 62.1% of the patients had mild head injury, 17.5% of the patients had moderate head injury, while the remaining 20.3% had severe head injury. Brain contusions, Brain edema, and epidural hematoma were the commonest traumatic pathology in 39.1%, 36.5%, 17.6% respectively. 63.6% of the patients had associated injuries rather than head injury. Good recovery was reported in 62.7% of the patients, moderate disability in 12.1% of the patients, while the mortality rate was 14.3% of the patients. Age <10 years old, mild head injury, absent or mild associated injuries, patients with no post-traumatic convulsion and patients with direct trauma had better outcome. Conclusion: Traumatic brain injury affects mainly young male Egyptians with road traffic accidents are the commonest cause. Such pathology requires more attention from local researchers and policy makers to decrease the rate of road traffic accidents as the major cause of traumatic brain injury in Egypt.