PEDIATRIC HEAD TRAUMA - INFLUENCE OF AGE AND SEX .2. BIOMECHANICAL AND ANATOMOCLINICAL CORRELATIONS

A consecutive, unselected series of 1812 cases of head trauma in child ren less than 15 years of age and admitted hospital over a period of 8 .5 years was studied. Data concerning the grade of energy involved, th e ages of the victims, the types of pathologies caused and the clinica l features noted were collected and statistically analysed. Babies and toddlers (0-3 years) were shown to sustain rather low-energy trauma a nd suffer more skull fractures, more subdural haematomas and more beni gn injuries. They lost consciousness less frequently and were less fre quently in coma than the other children. By contrast, they had more fr equent signs of lateralization, and early seizures were much more freq uent in babies than in other children. Young children (3-9 years) had rather higher-energy accidents, frequently lost consciousness, were mo re frequently in coma and have more frequently had a free interval ass ociated with the development of brain swelling. They did not suffer su bdural effusion or contrecoup lesions. Schoolchildren (9-15 years) wer e statistically more or less like young adults: the clinical sequences of trauma were more severe than in the other children, mortality was a little bit higher, the risk of extradural haematoma was higher, and they rarely suffered subdural haematomas or contrecoup lesions. Traffi c accidents, with higher energy involved, were more severe.