Penetrating head injury by stones: a case series and review of the literature based on the type of injury

Thotakura, Amit Kumar; Velivela, Kiran Chand; Marabathina, Nageswara Rao

doi:10.21608/pajn.2023.222385.1097

Penetrating head injury by stones: a case series and review of the literature based on the type of injury

Document Type : Original Articles

Authors

¹ Dept of Neurosurgery, NRI Academy of Sciences, Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, India

² department of neurosurgery, NRI Academy of Sciences, Guntur

³ department of Neurosurgery, NRI Academy of Sciences, Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, India

10.21608/pajn.2023.222385.1097

Abstract

Background: Low velocity penetrating head injury (PHI) is uncommon. PHI due to a stone is rare and we report a case series with a systematic review of the literature.
Methods: We included 4 patients from this series and 21 patients from the literature review. They are grouped into 7 patients of type I injury and 18 patients of type II injury based on the mode of injury. Type I injury is when the stone hits the head and type II injury is when the head falls on the stone and gets injured.
Results: The mean age was 22.6 years and 84% were males in the total 25 patients. The commonest cause of injury was road traffic accident (40%) and the commonest site of injury was the frontal region (60%). There was a statistically significant difference noted in the clinical grade (GCS) and outcome (p=0.03) between the two groups.
Conclusions: From the review of the literature, two types of PHI by stones can be concluded. Type I injuries were less common, more severe in the coma scale, injury grade, and had poor outcome compared to type II injuries.

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