Traumatic injuries to the head: A study of 200 consecutive cases

Abstract

1. 1. A series of 200 cases of head injury has been studied. 2. 2. The treatment has been surgical in nineteen cases and non-surgical in 181 cases. 3. 3. The lowest mortality, in the seriously injured, occurred in the cases treated by repeated lumbar punctures and dehydration. 4. 4. The most severe sequelae occurred in those cases having the most serious injuries. 5. 5. The mortality can be reduced by the application of therapy based on physiologic principles and careful bedside observation. 6. 6. No case should be considered as lost from the moment of injury, although this is true in a certain definite number of instances through virtue of the fact “that therapy has little influence on those cases in which actual brain damage is primarily responsible for the clinical picture.”