Head injuries in children and adolescents: treatment and outcome

We conducted a retrospective study to investigate the treatment and outcome of head injuries in children and adolescents in Taiwan. The study group consisted of 820 children and adolescents with head injuries admitted to Chang Gung Memorial Hospital from January 1985 to December 1989. The data were obtained from chart review and questionnaire. The cases were divided into four age-groups: group A (0-4 years old), group B (5-9 years old), group C (10-14 years old) and group D (15-17 years old). Computed tomogram of the brain was performed in 92% of the cases and most had abnormal findings. The frontal, temporal and parietal regions in that order accounted for the most focal sites of injuries on computed tomogram. Brain and other major surgery were necessary in 23.7% and 11.3% of the cases, respectively. Of the 15.3% of cases with seizures, most had early-onset seizures. A questionnaire of 398 survivors, showed that most patients achieved a good recovery level (94.2%) on the Glasgow outcome scale, a normal recovery (83.8%) of motor function and independent walking (96.0%) in locomotion. Vision and hearing were impaired in only 9.3% and 6.0% of cases, respectively. Approximately 97% of the patients aged 5 years or over recovered to be independent in their daily living activities and in normal communication. There were no significant differences in their above outcome-analyses among the different age-groups.